Tenacity Wins the Race

By Brenda Black

I tearfully watched as one after another of thousands of runners willed their wearied legs toward the finish line. Some ran for the first time a race that far and hard. Their grimaced lips and tear-filled eyes revealed the pain of the process and relief for its culmination. Some tested their endurance for the hundredth race, cruising past in steady strides, with experience breathing in and out as evenly. From the first timers to the Olympic qualifiers, each one reached their destiny powered by tenacity.

Half wincing, half intrigued, I witnessed a man pull nails out of a board with his mouth, in pursuit of a Guinness World Record. His tenacity demanded steely concentration, as well as tough teeth! In a room filled with photographers, judges and reporters, he never lost focus, but annihilated the nails and beat the clock as if he ate hammers for breakfast.

A young, female doctor who owns a brand new clinic is home on maternity leave, planning how she'll juggle a newborn and 8,000 small and large animal patients. She tells me she'll take her race one leg at a time and handle the tough test of dual commitment and a divided heart. She's filled with tenacious optimism and determined to balance family and career.

They all remind me yet again of the amazing potential of the human spirit and body when one puts his or her mind to something and compels the heart to follow. While their examples are inspiring, it is also humbling to think of how little I often expect from myself. A bit of pain or inconvenience and I might be prone to take the shorter, easier route. At the end of that decision, I have to wonder, did the short cut leave me more fulfilled or empty. Will I know that I left it all on the field and played this game of life to win, pushing the limits of my own human possibilities, if I never do the hard stuff or try something out of my comfort zone?

Stepping out in faith and fortitude takes effort. Marathon runners don't wake up on race day and go 26.2 miles without building up the stamina, one step, one mile at a time. Guinness record breakers know the target before they ever make the attempt, and they practice, practice, practice. Moms count the cost and factor in the blessings to be the best they can be for their babies, in spite of the tears and trials. After weighing the odds and looking to the prize, the tenacious go to work to see their dreams become reality.

How about you? What's on your radar or your bucket list? Have you decided it's time for a little self-improvement? The only one who can make it happen is you.

Take the first step. Keep the focus. Find the balance. Be tenacious and finish the race.

Rules for Running the Race

By Brenda Black

As with any timed event, it matters not nearly as much how you start, but where you finish. But the opposite is true in the case of reigning Olympic and world champion, and world-record-holder Usain Bolt's latest race. The “one and done” false start rule just ruled fleet-footed Bolt disqualified. The very notion of dismissing a runner capable of smoking the 100 meter in 9.58 seconds leaves rule-makers running for solutions and questioning the necessity for such an edict.

Some social scientists contend that rule evasion can serve as a useful tool to promote more efficient policies or alternatives. As track and field judges weigh the prospects of new policies concerning revered runners, they may respond in one of three ways: either effectively ignore the rule infraction, enforce it to a greater extent or revise it.

One jump of the gun and you're done does seem a bit harsh. But there's a lesson to be learned at the cost of Bolt's unbridled bolt. Whoa! Better to be disciplined than to be eliminated. All too well, he has learned that the price can be shamefully high when rules get broken.

But let's not forget “some rules are meant to be broken.” Take for instance a law in Idaho that says it is illegal for a man to give his sweetheart a box of candy weighing more than 50 pounds. Obviously that one needs amending! Some mandates are plain silly. Other sanctions make perfect sense . There's the law in Missouri that says it is illegal to drive with an uncaged bear! I'm thinking that one needs to stay on the books since bruin populations are on the rise in the Show Me State. Sure, it may be fine to see a bear in the cab of a pickup in the Ozark Mountains, but probably not a great thing in the backseat of a cab in downtown Kansas City.

A contemporary of Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner, finds the balance between total, blind adherence verses testing the waters: “We are half ruined by conformity; but we should be wholly ruined without it.” In other words: Some rules are absolutely necessary. The truth is “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Proverbs 1:7) When reasonable rules are followed, they are for our good to prevent false starts and failed finishes.

Foolish thoughts convince would-be winners that fudging just a little won't cause fallout.
And deceiving oneself with the notion that no one is looking only blinds the one competing. The best qualifying start in life begins in the Word of God where rules are specific and filled with purpose and broken ones bear consequence. There we are told that “...if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.” (2 Timothy 2:5)

Even if a runner clears the starting blocks fairly, there are some things that can still keep him from officially finishing the race. A stumble? No. A runner can get back up and rejoin the race. A hurdle not cleared? No. Downed hurdles just slow him down, but don't disqualify a runner. Cheating and quitting are, however, surefire precursors for a failed finish. Those are personal choices of which you can blame no other contender, no other circumstances. The consequences for breaking the rules lie squarely on the shoulders of the one who committed the infraction.

Whether the International Association of Athletics Federation sees clear to ignore, enforce or alter the “one and done” rule, may change the face of future race results for high profile runners. Still, it won't repeat races already run. The consequences for those are in the record books.