Determination

I don’t know who he is, but I find myself thinking about him whenever I run, especially when it’s difficult.

I was running the Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon in DC in March of 2019. I was somewhere in mile 10, following the course through the NoMa area of the city. As I took a turn, I saw him ahead of me.

There is no greater testament to the irrelevance of body type/shape than running a race. I have run with, and been passed by, people of every size and shape. Although physical condition matters, mental fortitude counts so much more. A patient runner can beat an impatient runner in better condition. Sometime late in a race, that patient runner may pass the impatient one, who has completely gassed themselves.

I was coming up quickly on the man I saw. He was much larger than I ever was, even at my high-water mark. He wasn’t moving fast and I was going to pass him and probably never see him again.

But here’s why he stands out to me today and every day since:

He was in mile 10 of a half marathon.

At my biggest, running a half marathon was science fiction. It took me almost a year to feel ready to try it. This man was in mile 10, with no reason to think he wouldn’t finish.

He was already 10,000% ahead of the staffers/interns/students who were sitting in lawn chairs next to the route offering beers to the runners. He was already ahead of me, even if he wasn’t ahead of me in that race.

At my most out-of-shape, I couldn’t consider doing the thing that this man was doing at that moment. At the risk of projecting, the confidence and mental toughness than man taught me that day have stuck with me ever since.

Every time I finish a tough run, I thank him.