I don't talk about it much, so I thought I'd share a few of those stories with my blogger-pals-
when I was in junior high and high school, the only sport I was any good at was track. it didn't involve hand-eye-coordination or getting hit by gigantic students, so I was up for it- and I got to be pretty speedy. I won a bunch of races, especially in high school-
here are the basics:
:: I ran track for Grace Davis High School in Modesto
:: I tried a bunch of different races and events, including the hurdles, the 200 meter dash, the 100 meter dash, the 4X100 relay, but in the end, my specialty was the 400 meter dash and the mile relay.
:: the 400 meter dashs is essentially a lap around the track- or 440 yards in football terms. the mile relay is just 4 guys running 400 meters one at a time, each one handing a baton to another.
:: the 400 is an ugly race. it isn't a quick sprint like the 100, and you can't pace yourself like you can in a mile, you run as hard and as fast as you possibly can for somewhere between 45 and 60 seconds. when the thing is over, students are exhausted, often falling over, barfing, spitting thick spit or leaning up against a goal post. its not for wimps.
:: my relay team was nicknamed the untouchables- we went several seasons undefeated in competition with the other schools in Modesto.
:: those guys were really fast- and we all had respect for each other, and by the time I was a junior, i got to be the anchor-leg of the team, running the final leg.
one season was really good for me. I went undefeated in every 400 meter dash that season up to the final track meet of the season. the school that we were racing against had no 400 meter runners- which was good, because that meant that a Davis student would definitely win the race. the bad news was that the only way that I was going to go undefeated that season was to race against the untouchables. I had gone undefeated up to this point, so I definitely was capable of winning the race, but you just never know- those guys were all really fast.
I got up to the starting line and lined up against the 3 other members of my relay team. before I stood in my marks, I knelt down in prayer (tim tebow style) like I often did. one of my team mates tapped my shoulder and said, "what are you praying for?!" I said, "oh- you know- I just want to win- I'm trying to go undefeated..." he said, "you're going to win this race."
the starter shouted out, "RUNNERS TAKE YOUR MARKS!" we all stepped into our starting blocks. "SET!" we all raised up. BLAM! went the starter's pistol. I was out quick- for the first 100 meters my head was usually down and my hands were pumping in time with my legs. usually on the second 100 meters I would look up and see where the comptetion was- they were no where. I must have had an amazing start- or maybe one of them fell; or maybe someone false started. but when i looked back, the untouchables were jogging and chatting with each other around the track. they threw the race to let me go undefeated.
what a cool bunch of guys-
I met them at the finish line and we all hugged and celebrated my undefeated season. the untouchables were untouchable that day.
that's what team is all about isn't it? respect, others-centeredness, and friendship.
God is love.
-rev-rob
0 comments:
Post a Comment