November 17, 2011

Runners Crawling to the Finish Line

On Tuesday, Christian Bergeron, a cross country runner in Lousiana, showed some serious guts and determination in finishing his final high school race. He was in 13th place and only 25 yards from the finish line. Then his legs gave out.

Dehydration robbed him of his ability to physically function. After multiple attempts at standing up and finishing, he crawled across the line and into his brother's arms. Here's a local TV station's recap:
If you've never seen the following videos from some of the Ironman championship races, they are incredible. These are finely-tuned athletes, who do their best to optimize performance through training and nutrition over months and years. But sometimes their tanks just get down to zero.
Wondering about that "spirit of Julie Moss" mentioned at the end of that clip? Here's her finish in 1982.
As heart-breaking as these clips are to watch, I'm inspired by their desire to finish and how nothing, not even the inability to put one foot in front of the other, was going to stop them from crossing that finish line.

I honestly get choked up every time I revisit these.
Man, I love sports.
Posted by Aaron
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2 comments:

  1. jenNovember 17, 2011 at 3:57 PM

    when I was near the finish line for the half-marathon in Savannah, a lady started swaying in front of me and I grabbed her arm right before her knees gave out. Even though her face was white and she seemed about to pass out, she was determined to cross the finish line. Her daughter and a medic helped her do so.

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  2. AaronNovember 17, 2011 at 11:06 PM

    Yikes! Sounds like you made a great catch, Jen! That'd be freaky; glad they had people there to care for her.

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