Ten o’clock, the city’s still warm
Somebody’s stretching under a streetlight

Tuesday night and the map just dropped
A corner, a crossing, a place we all stop
I don’t know your name and you don’t know mine
We’re strangers till the second kilometre line
Nobody asked me how fast I could go
They just said the pace is whatever you know

Front group, back group, same start line
Nobody’s left out here on their own tonight

Just show up — we’ll take it from there
Yerevan, the whole road, the cold night air
Four-thirty or eight, we don’t care
Just show up, baby, we’ll take it from there
Run, baby, run

Quarter to eight and the light comes in gold
Before work, before excuses get told
Saturday, six-thirty, still dark on the hill
The long one, the big one, the one that we feel
And somebody’s dog gets the whole thing on tape
And somebody shouts “photo!” and nobody escapes

It started with three and a standing Tuesday night
Shaghig, Asdghig, Jebid under the light
Now there’s more of us than the corner can hold
Same idea, just louder, just bold
No fee, no forms, no roster, no test
Only the road, and the coffee after that’s best

You don’t have to be ready
You don’t have to be fast
You just have to be there
When we go past

Coffee’s on the corner
Same time next week

Ten o’clock. Yerevan.
Lights on. Watch on.
Run.

Run baby — run baby —
Run baby — run baby —
Run baby — run baby —
RUN

Run baby run, run baby run
Under the streetlight, out past the square
Run baby run, run baby run
Nobody’s counting, nobody cares
Run baby run, run baby run
Front of the pack or back of the line
Run baby run, run baby run
Everybody’s finishing fine

Tuesday, ten, the city’s still awake
Cold on the arms and the pavement shakes
Somebody’s laughing, somebody’s late
Somebody’s stretching against the gate
We don’t ask how far, we don’t ask how fast
We just ask are you coming — that’s the whole class

Feet on the stone, breath in the dark
One more lap of the park
Run — run — run

Run baby run, run baby run
Past the fountain where the dog gets a drink
Run baby run, run baby run
Legs keep going while you stop and think
Run baby run, run baby run
Hrazdan wind and the bridge lights on
Run baby run, run baby run
Look up once and the hard part’s gone

Run baby run…
Run baby run…
(just show up)
Run baby run…
(we’ll take it from there)

RUN BABY RUN, RUN BABY RUN
RUN BABY RUN, RUN BABY RUN
Coffee at the corner when the work is done
RUN BABY RUN, RUN BABY RUN

Same corner. Same time.
Run.

Back of the pack, back of the pack
Same coffee, same table, same way back
I forgot to start my watch, so it doesn’t count
(it counts)
Back of the pack, back of the pack
Nobody drops you, nobody laps
Front group’s quick but they wait at the top
So who’s really at the back?

Ten at night and the map just dropped
Phone in the hand at the corner where we stop
I don’t know your name and you don’t know mine
We’ll be old friends by the second kilometre sign
There’s a guy in a jacket saying he’s not fit
Been saying it a year, hasn’t missed one bit
No fee, no forms, no coach with a clipboard
Just show up — that’s the whole of the record
Somebody’s fast, somebody’s fresh off the couch
Same start line, same shout, same route
And the watch on my wrist says four point nine
I’m calling it five and I’m calling it fine

Dog picks us up by the second turn
No lead, no name, no lesson to learn
Stops at the pulpulak, drinks like a champion
Catches us back up — now he’s in the anthem
Past Republic Square where the water goes up
Tourists get the fountain, we’re the blur in the cut
Seasons Park, one more lap of the green
Legs saying no, group saying lean
Then somebody shouts PHOTO and the whole thing stops
Nobody escapes it, everybody props
Twenty-nine people, one guy blinks
That’s the one that goes up. That’s how it works.

Coffee House on the left, Prépa on the right
Iced tea, flat white, everybody’s alright
The run took an hour
We’ve been sitting here two
That’s the part of the club that nobody tells you

Started with three on a standing Tuesday night
Shaghig, Asdghig, Jebid under one light
Now the corner can’t hold what the corner grew
And the back of the pack is where you meet them too
Saturday, six-thirty, still dark on the hill
Everybody said never, everybody’s still here
Nobody’s checking who came in first
Nobody’s asking what your best is worth
So if you’re reading the map and you’re scared of the pace
There’s a whole crowd of us holding your place
Slow at the back with the dog and the jokes
Best seat in the club, and it’s free for folks

Front of the pack. Back of the pack.
Same pack.
Same time next week.