The Race Is On

A runner must run with dreams in his heart.

Emil Zatopec



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I did some running in school but soon realized it was not the sport for me. Soon after each race began the pain set it and I realized it was an contest against pain, among other things. So I stopped. But I still admire watching good runners and can appreciate what they are doing to some degree.

The first famous runner of history was Pheidippides. The legend says that he ran from the battlefield where the very outnumbered Athenian army had just won the battle at Marathon against the Persians under King Darius. That story is probably not true, but the historian Herodotus wrote that Pheidippides did run 145 miles to plead with the Spartans to send help to the Athenians. At the end of the run he supposedly died from exhaustion. Not surprising. The Spartans did not send any help to the Athenians in spite of the hope Pheidippides carried in his heart. But the Athenians won the battle anyway.

Emil Zatopec, who is quoted above, was a gold medal winning runner from Czechoslovakia. One notable achievement of his was entering in to a marathon at the last minute, even though he had never run one before, and winning it.

Zatopec said of the start of his career, "I had to run, and when I got started, I felt I wanted to win. But I only came in second. That was the way it started."

Roger Bannister, now SIR Rager Bannister want to be a doctor. He started running as child, to and from school. He went on the astonish the world by running the mile in under 4 minutes, in spite of the myths spread that said it couldn't be done. Sir Roger said, "The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."

The most recent history making runner is Edison Pena who with 32 other Chilean miners spend 69 days trapped under the ground. Not knowing for sure if they would ever get out alive, edison ran every day. He ran back and forth in that mine shaft. they were all eventually saved and Edison was invited to come to New York to watch the NYC Marathon. But Mr. Pena wanted to run instead so he did. Even though he had to stop for medical attention, he went back out and finished the race with ice taped around his knee. His time was 5 hours and 40 minutes.

Edison Pena said, "When I ran in the darkness, I was running for life. "I was running to show that I wasn't just waiting around. I was saying to that mine, 'I can outrun you. I'm going to run until you're just tired and bored of me.'"

We are all runners in this human race, and we must keep the dreams alive.

DB - The Vagabond

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AUTUMN QUESTION

(This is not a contest.)

At what event of the past do you wish you could be present? Why?

Only 8 responses so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
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