American Spirit

I’m no longer a runner and the only races I watch anymore are when my family members are participants.  But, after last year’s Boston Marathon tragedy, I was interested to see how Americans would respond at this year’s Boston Marathon.  What I found out was the things that made America so great are still alive.

I can’t imagine the terror people felt after the bombs, left by two cowards, exploded.  In spite of the terror and tragedy, this year more than a million people lined the race course and there were 9,000 more entrants in this year’s race than last year.  One runner, when asked why he was running after last year’s events, responded by saying, “I’m running to make a simple statement: Acts of cowardice will not stop me from exercising my rights as an athlete and a human.” Some of this year’s runners were last year’s victims; they showed that Americans may get knocked down and hurt, but they don’t stay down. 

It’s a sweet irony that this year’s winner of the men’s division is the first American to win the Boston Marathon since 1983.  Meb Keflezighi, who was also the first American to win the New York Marathon in 27 years, when he won it in 2009, is an American success story.  Keflezighi emigrated with his family at the age of 12 from Eritrea, to escape poverty and war.  In a post-race interview, he said, “my life would have been a soldier. I would have been dead in the war. The life that I have is just beyond my dreams.”

Keflezighi trained long and hard and used his talents to run a smart race, putting himself in a position to win.  Did his win involve luck? Probably so, his best marathon time was two or three minutes slower than some of the other entrants.  But he ran every step of the way; no one did it for him. His win shows that hard, hard work, talent, perseverance, and a little bit of luck leads to success.  But his career also shows us that even with all those things, success is not guaranteed; how many races did he enter and not win?

When asked how he would respond if he received a phone call from President Obama, he said, “Thank you for the opportunity that the US has given me.”  And that’s all anyone should expect, opportunities and equitable laws.  Everyone who ran the Boston Marathon ran the same distance.  No one was allowed to start earlier than others or run a shorter distance or given any advantage over other runners because of some disadvantage or quota.  The same rules applied to all runners.

Obviously, not everyone could win.  Not everyone has the same level of talent or ability.  Not everyone trained the same length of time or with the same intensity.  And some runners were injured or beset with other problems like exhaustion, things that sometimes happened in spite of their preparation.  Because of those things, not everyone will have the same finish.

And there are different goals and definitions of success.  Some entered with a goal of just completing the race.  Others raced to set a personal record.  Although there were different measures of success for each race participant, the rules were the same for everyone giving all an equal opportunity to achieve their definition of success.  That’s the way it should be in our society.  No one should be given an advantage over others, all allowed to compete with the same rules as everyone else.  No quotas, no discrimination, just a common set of rules applied to all.

Another example of the American Spirit occurred near the end of the race.  A runner collapsed from exhaustion just blocks from the finish line.  Four runners stopped to help him, physically carrying him across the finish line.  No one ordered them to help him and there were no rules that said they must help him.  Their kindness and compassion, not government intervention, helped a runner cross the finish line when he had exhausted all his ability and energy, and could go no further.  More importantly, he started the race and went has far as he was able.  He didn’t demand that they carry him the whole race and was grateful for the help he received.  I wish more in our society were grateful for any assistance instead of demanding more.

America is the land of opportunity.  Not everyone will have the same success or level of success.  But when the rules are the same for all, at least everyone has opportunity to cross the finish line.