Races Aren't for Sissies

A number of years ago (and by a number, I do mean a while ago--I was in preschool, so it had to be at least 25 years ago), my mom & dad went on a trip to Greece. This isn't too much of a stretch because we lived in Germany at the time.

I will say up front that I do not know the details of this trip, I will just share the memory that I have. I like it that way. I apologize if some of the details are hazy.

All I remember is that the time of the trip coincided with the running of the marathon. The Marathon. As in the one that follows the original running of the marathon back in ancient times. For more information about this great run (the original guy died at the end), you can read more here.

In my mind, one of the reasons my dad received the time off to go on the trip was because his CO (Commanding Officer) was assured that my dad (and maybe a friend of his that went with him on the trip?) were going to actually run in the race.

As the legend, um, story goes, my dad hadn't trained to actually run the marathon (he was running pretty regularly at the time, but not necessarily training for a marathon). In the end, it took my dad some long, obnoxious amount of time to finish the race. But, he had to--he couldn't go back and tell his boss he quit early. We're talking Army guys, here. His race bib hung in his office for years following this event. It might even hang there still; I'll have to check in a few weeks when I go to Wisconsin.

I don't know why, but I've always loved this story, even though I don't really know the details. The point of the story isn't in the details, though. The point is that he finished. I'm not sure how--I'm sure it wasn't pretty. But, he finished. And all these years later, I'm still proud to say that he did it.

I'm embarrassed to say there are a number of races in my lifetime that I've started and then quit early. There are a few I've actually finished. It might not have been a pretty site, but I finished none the less. I feel like I'm embarking on some new races here pretty soon. I hope I can finish and maybe even finish well.

Thanks for setting the example, dad.