The amount of people who are the best in the world at anything is a miniscule percentage. Most of us won’t even ever meet a ‘Best in the Worlder’. No matter how good you are at something there will always be someone better. So why do so many get so disappointed when they come up against someone faster or stronger?
I went to an Athletics meet today and saw a wide variety of kids competing at ‘Zones’ which is two levels down from State Titles. There is a huge difference between the fastest and slowest at this level. Some kids have just scraped in to qualify and will be soundly beaten on the day. Others will go on comfortably to the next level, ‘Regionals’, then a smaller number on to ‘States’. Maybe one or two of the 500 kids there today at Zones will get all the way to ‘Nationals’. Of the two getting through, one will get beaten, one will win. Or that’s how it has happened in the past.
A girl who has gone on to break national records in the past was there today running in the 800m and 1500m. They just happen to be the same events that Philli from my school runs in. Each year Philli comes up against Laura and gets beaten by big margins. She jokes on the way to the track that maybe Laura will just somehow not turn up today. Deep down though she knows what lays ahead. I watch both races closely and once again I’m amazed by this super talented girl that runs so effortlessly yet so quickly. It’s actually a bit of a privilege to be trackside as she flashes past breathing just loud enough to be heard. Behind her are a group of girls who are all the best runners in their respective schools. So how will they handle defeat today? If I was looking to answer that question it wouldn’t help to ask Philli because she felt far from defeated.
All Philli wanted to do was beat her time from last week which was 5m57s for the 1500. I showed her after the race the watch had been stopped at 5m54s and her smile lit up her face. She was deservedly extremely happy. Philli won’t go on to the next level but when it mattered today, she dug deep when she was hurting and ran strong. The little voice in her head would have been suggesting she slow down but she wasn’t there to be dictated to. She wasn’t running Laura’s race or the little voice’s race, she was there to run as fast as she could go on the day. That’s all anyone can do.
In other events I saw kids in tears, I saw kids making excuses and I saw kids and parents blaming someone else for the fact that today, they met someone faster or stronger. It’s not like there was billions of them but there was just enough for me to think about it. I wonder how many of these upset kids had just run a PB and how many of them didn’t even know. Not winning should never equal failure.
When I got home today I was procrastinating about heading out for a 10 km run. I thought about the kid who dug deep and worked hard when she was hurting and I thought about how much she loved it. I finally did my ten km and I loved it. Didn’t run a PB, didn’t beat a soul either, just loved it.
· Laura ran 2.18 for her 800m and 4.52 for her 1500m. Get yourself down to a track and see how hard it is to get close to that. Only 5 years until Rio Olympics, 2016, or 9 years until the games after that where she will probably meet someone faster than her. I hope her face still lights up like Philli's did today. Everyone deserves to be happy with their best.
Below is a link to Laura setting a national record against the best kids in the country in the 800m a couple of years ago.
Below is a link to Laura setting a national record against the best kids in the country in the 800m a couple of years ago.
