inspiration for me....(ntr)

Tonight, i saw, in my own biased eyes, something very inspiring.

At little A's, a boy in the under 11's was running the last race of this sticky night. I've seen him there for the last 2 years, and he is not the fastest in his age group. Actually, he comes near the back of every event, and even tonight he did not want to run at all. But he did. And the race was the dreaded 1500mtrs. When you 32, and especially when your 11, 1500 metres is a long way.

So it starts as a pack start, and he took off at the 1500 mtr pace he knows - jog to start, run hard at the end. But it was not long when he was at the back. Not much longer, and he was lapped around the 400 metre track by the faster boys, who are quick to run, and quicker to say 11 year old boy style comments to slower runners.

The faster kids had finished and were standing by the finish line, as the boy at the back jogged past them - he had another lap to go. And he kept jogging, asking his younger sister not to run with him cause he finds it embarrassing. And he kept going. And at the end, he gave an almighty sprint to the finish, to come last by a few minutes.

What was inspiring was that normally he would stop. Tonight, for some reason, on the night he did not want to go, this boy didnt stop. Didnt walk. Didnt pass anyone. But still kept going, focused on his run. And the sprint at the end came from nowhere - his body a second before was drooping and dragging his feet behind, before his eyes narrowed, and the jog became a sprint. All the way to the finish, and as he caught his breath, a smirk came over his face, as he knew he had won his own race.

It was a great finish, and a great run, which really inspired me, and will give me the conviction to keep going next time i want to quit, somewhere down the back of the pack. He finished to a few claps, like you get at the back of the pack. Out of however many people are watching a race or run, a couple get the special effort it takes to do something you are not a natural at, and push through.

And on nights like tonight, you can bet the boys father is glad he is wearing sunglasses, as seeing his son growing and running into an inspiring and courageous young man, can fill him with so much pride his eyes may very well have welled up with an unexpected tear.