On Quitting in the Middle of a Marathon

What does it mean to keep doing something when you no longer want to?

Illustration by Louisa Bertman

A marathon is a ridiculous event. Kids dressed as tacos hand out marshmallow gel packets — the precise color and consistency of sperm — to thousands of bib-wearing, Lycra-clad humans hobble-running way farther than their middle-class working-professional bodies want to allow…