In life everyone runs.
The hard part is deciding whether
you’re running from something or towards something.
I had the opportunity to go to a triathlon on Saturday. The event, The Muncie 70.3 was a swim-bike-run triathlon which was open to pros and amateur competitors and is a qualifier for the prestigious Ironman series. The 70.3 refers to the combined miles the contestents cover during the event.
I attended the event with a good friend who is knowledgeable about the sport. One thing my friend said repeatedly was that most of the participants “Have a story”. He meant that everyone is out there for a reason and those reasons vary as much as the body types of the nearly two thousand competitors. Some were sleek and athletic and others were downright chubby. There were ladies in wheel chairs and men with prosthetic legs, all racing for their own reasons. Were they running from pain? Beating an addiction? Finding themselves through moments of Zen? Who knows, but I was humbled by their perseverance and their pride.
I went to the event to support a competitor, my good friend Sean. I have known Sean for roughly twenty years. We are both members of the same college fraternity but are separated in age by several years. Sean has his "story” too. I knew him when he was a cocky undergrad and watched him struggle through the cancer treatments that nearly took his life. I also watched that experience humble him and make him the tremendous man that he is today.
Sean competes in triathlons. He’s not particularly fast. He may never win an event. But for him, competing is about much more than winning. To him the act of doing the training and participating is winning. It is his way of looking cancer in the eye and knowing that he won the battle and is winning the war.
I was overwhelmed to witness all the "stories” on display on Saturday. I would love to know more about many of the competitors and their particular reasons. I’m sure I missed out on some very inspiring details, but on this day one story mattered the most and I will always be happy that I was there to share in my friends’ personal victory.
“Victory is sweetest when you’ve known defeat.”- Malcolm S. Forbes
