Miranda wrote to me in 1996 and said that her dad ran marathons. I did not have a marathon story, so I wrote this one and sent it to her. I had never met Miranda, but in 1998 I visited her school in Vancouver, not remembering that she went there. When I went to the school, this is what happened:
The principal said, “Well, of course you want to see Miranda.”
And I said, “Who?”
“Miranda Lee,” said the principal, “the kid in the Marathon story.”
And I looked at him and said: “Well, of course!”
And that’s the story behind that story.