Originally Posted April 21, 2004

Before this Monday, I had never been to a marathon. I had never been to any sort of track and field-related sporting event at a level higher than my own high school. Shelly and I had a friend, Dave, running, so we went to watch him finish. We staked out a position on the side near the finish line.

Before, when we were talking with Dave about the race, I facetiously told him, "No matter what happens, even if you fall down and break your leg, you have to GET UP AND FINISH THE RACE! That way, you'll be an inspiration for Primary children everywhere." We all had a good chuckle. My words came back to me in the 85-degree weather on Monday (what a day for freakish New England weather!) at about Mile 26.1 as I watched one runner, a middle-aged man with an orange and white shirt and shaggy beard, stagger backwards and fall to the asphalt. He was clearly exhausted from the heat and the run. As a few police officers approached him, he managed to lift a hand indicating that he didn't want to be helped up yet. All eyes were on him as other runners trotted past, some in great shape, some barely able to stay on their feet themselves. The crowd was cheering a little more loudly to encourage the fallen runner. Shelly looked away in despair. I raptly stared at him, wondering if he would be a Primary story. After a minute or two, he writhed to his knees and then stood. The crowd exploded. I felt my eyes moisten. He moved, but not forward. He was still unable to keep his balance in the heat. After catching himself and standing still for a moment, he took a few wobbly steps forward. He was on his way, but I wasn't convinced he could make it the remaining 200 yards or so without falling again. As he disappeared from my view, though, two other runners had each taken an arm, and were supporting him until the finish line. He finished the race.

I wonder why it is that we always refer to the stories of the runners who fall and get up to finish the race as the inspirational ones. Why isn't it the many over-50 people I saw skipping toward the finish line with beaming smiles and their arms in the air, asking for more cheers? Why aren't the inspirational stories those like the two guys from my ward who jumped into the last 10 miles of the race to give moral support to their friend who ran the whole thing and might not have done as well on his own? Why don't we talk about the courage it took for people to drop out of the race when they realized their bodies can't make it, despite the months of training and dreaming they've done? Why don't we talk about the weirdos who dressed up in Superman and Flash outfits (or the "Captain Cramp" outfit I saw)? Despite those characters, aren't the real heroes the two runners who sacrificed a faster time for the sake of supporting the man I saw collapse?

Talking to marathon participants past and present, I get the impression that it is emotionally a fantastic experience to know that you've accomplished something that difficult. And people do get respect just for finishing--as we walked away from the race with Dave, complete strangers on the street literally applauded him. It was inspiring for me, both those who overcame challenges, and those who didn't have to face such challenges. I kind of understand why race stories are so commonly used as inspirational stories. But I also understand that I would have been flat on my own back after five miles, so I'm going to have to inspire people in some other way.