Saturday, December 3, 2011

a real race

.
I suppose that every runner runs alone. Though surrounded by others, still there is a race to run and there is nothing but ... this.

This morning, when I went to watch my older son compete in the shot put segment of a track competition, there was only one young woman to run the 5,000 meter (3.1 miles) event. By the time she finished, there was a lot of applause, not just from fellow Williams College chums, but from the entire indoor arena.

It took courage to go alone, even if the sport was essentially a lone sport. It was determined. And it was a pleasure to see another human being take up a gauntlet despite all the usual social needs and graces.

It was one of those things that made me happy to belong to the human race.
.

No comments:

Post a Comment