An unlikely inspiration

For awhile now I've observed and asked other runners who is your running hero? For many of course, it's Steve Prefontaine for his guts and heart. Others have more specific heroes based on their own interests: vegan runners look up to ultra marathoner Scott Jurek, the run/walkers adore Jeff Galloway.


Mine would be Terry Fox, the young Canadian amputee who attempted to run across Canada in 1980 for cancer research. He made it two-thirds of the way before his cancer recurred and forced him to quit right outside of Thunder Bay (he died about 18 months later.) I have been to this spot, which is memorialized with a statue of him heading west towards home in Vancouver, and it's very moving. Since his death, his goal of raising twenty-two million dollars (one dollar for each Canadian) has been surpassed many times over in North America and around the world.


As you may remember in my last blog, while I enjoy getting medals, many a time I have run a race for a good cause and received nothing but a wristband and a smile, and I loved it. The charitable aspect is very important to me, and one of my goals is to do a fundraiser on a bigger scale, like walk the eighty-mile Mountain-Bay trail for a wildlife rehabilitation center or something. So I greatly admire this man for his courage and positive outlook through great personal adversity.


This also got me thinking: who are the heroes from other sports that actually got you moving in the first place? I have told the story of Gene Kelly inspiring me to get off the couch many times. (You bet dancers are athletes!) I have always had great respect for Hank Aaron, and was thrilled to get his Bobblehead at the Brewers Mini-Marathon last year.


But who, who represents you as an athlete? The underdog, the misfit, the one who may seem like a joke to some, but who is out there training and busting their butt like everyone else? Why of course! The Jamaican bobsled team.


Back in 1988, they were considered a joke. C'mon, a bobsled team from a country with no snow?!? But they had guts, and hung in there longer than was ever expected. In reality, it wasn't so unbelievable, because of the great Jamaican sprinting tradition (exactly what you need to push a bobsled.) Sadly, they had not qualified for the Winter Olympics since 2002, until yesterday. Their 47-year old driver has come out of retirement, and they are ready for the Games next month. However, they are sledding on a shoestring budget (sound familiar?) and will have work to do before they even get to Russia. You bet I will be cheering them on.


Other than being painfully slow, I know I have some assets that others admire. The biggest would be heart and endurance. Just yesterday a lady said "you got some good steam going up that hill." But the looks I get sometimes when I pass people late in a race (sometimes dirty!) or come thundering across the finish line can be fun to watch. I'm not what you expect. I'm proud of that, and I'm sure the bobsled boys are proud of themselves as well.