Run Your Own Race

This week, Kyra and I attended our first cross-country meet to watch my 7th grade niece, Mali, run (and run, and run, and run).  We had a bit of a cross-country workout ourselves getting to the course, pushing Kyra’s wheelchair down the soggy ISU dairy barn driveway (Yes! We finally had enough rain to make mud!), dodging traffic to cross Mortensen Drive, popping wheelies over street curbs, and jarring our way across the course and up a hill to the finish line.

About 20 minutes later, we clapped and cheered for nearly 250 young ladies running, jogging, walking, and stumbling over that finish line. Then we made the return trip, trudging across the wheelchair-jarring course, over the street curbs, through the mud, and finally, slogging our way down the gravel driveway to our van.

As I consider the challenges we all face every day, I realize it’s not the difficulty of the course that’s important: It’s being there for the whole race.

Because Kyra and I made the effort to be there, I saw the joy on my niece’s face when she saw us at the course before her race began. Because I was there, I could hug her sweaty body and tell her how proud I was after her run. Because she was there, Kyra could offer a high-five to her cousin, and meet some of her friends.

Because we’ve been there, supporting and loving her, Mali chose to expend some of her valuable energy during the race to encourage another runner from an opposing team as they struggled up a difficult hill.

Because she’s still learning to run the course of life, we still need to be there. We’re all still learning. So please, wherever your course may take you, run with patience the race. It will be worth it.

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