Microstory 1132: Feingold

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Liam Fine’s family was living in Chicago, Illinois when he was born. They moved to the Kansas City area when he was six years old, to get a fresh start. As part of this new beginning, Liam’s parents enrolled him in karate, which he took a great liking to. Years later, the City Frenzy became a thing, and Liam decided he wanted in on the action, even though he had never been much of a runner. He wasn’t quite old enough yet, but that was okay, because organizers were still working out the kinks. It’s widely accepted that its third year—which was Liam and Serkan’s first—was when the event really took off. Liam realized early on that there was going to be a lot of publicity for it, and what happened then could define his identity for years to come. He started asking for people to call him Feingold, and that’s the name he used to register for the race. It’s not that Liam didn’t like his birth name, but it was too common. He wanted to stand out as a competitor, and people who go by one name get noticed. He still wanted to honor his Jewish heritage, and not just come up with something random. The historical records are a little fuzzy, but there was evidence to suggest that his family’s name used to be Feingold, so it just seemed to fit perfectly. The race, for him didn’t go well, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. He liked to compete against others more than he liked winning. The thrill of testing his own limits is what kept him going. He continued to try his best year after year, because quitting just wasn’t in his DNA. In his second year, he met a fellow racer who would soon become his best friend. Tick Tock was involved with judo, so they already had discipline and martial arts in common. Neither of them ever won Frenzy, but they were instrumental in transforming the organization into something grander. With their guidance, the Frenzy became more than just this one annual event. A martial arts version of it was created, and soon, other variations came about. Though this might be Feingold’s public legacy, it is only a small part of everything that he would ultimately for the world. And it all started when he found out Tick Tock chose his own name for a very specific reason.