What’s so memorable about running the perfect race? Sure you might set a personal best, but let’s face it, while you may have pulled off the best race of your life, it was pretty boring. You run at your aim pace or maybe a little better, you focus on your goal, focus on your form and execute. When the going gets tough you reach deep and keep going. You write the time on your bib or in your run journal and that’s it. Other than a celebratory meal or refreshment after, what’s to remember about that run? Nothing. It was boring, it went exactly as planned. Unless you are one of the front runners, your race was successful, but there is no gripping story to tell. The perfect race is a perfect bore.
Category Archives: On the Run
The 100 Mile Relay
I’ve been coaching “Learn to Run” clinics at work for a few years and while most participants never look beyond the five kilometres that I set as the goal of the two months training, there are a few that have used it as a stepping-stone to bigger events. A handful of my charges and running partners started training seriously in the fall of 2004 and on the Monday after the Bay, a few of them asked me what their next challenge was. Jokingly, I suggested the club’s eight person, one hundred mile relay as a group event. And darned if they didn’t jump at it too!
Team Rocket: Running with Amanda
“Team Rocket” in the home stretch to the finish line at the
2006 London Ontario, Forest City Marathon.
Why do we do what we do? I guess I really should say, “Why I do what I do?” I can’t speak for Amanda and she can’t explain it to you in words.
First off, let me tell you a little bit about Amanda. She is our middle child and she was born in 1985 with cerebral palsy that affects her speech and muscle control. She is pretty much confined to her wheelchair and has to have constant care. Amanda is also developmentally challenged, but she seems to be unaware she’s handicapped and she behaves like a happy, mischievous little kid.
A Village Of Runners
Team Rocket – Amanda & Mark Collis.
Haiti Charity Run 5k, 2000
It’s often said that it takes a whole village to raise a child. Sometimes it takes a small town to raise some kids and sometimes that larger village isn’t enough. However, when the right group of people gets together, miracles can happen.
Now, many people wouldn’t think that having the responsibility for looking after a severely handicapped child would be a blessing, but in some ways it has been. With challenges in life there sometimes comes opportunities for revealing the best within you and in those around you.
A Thread Of Magic
Running buddy Mary (right) and her sister (left)
show off their hard earned jackets
Immediately after our first ancestor donned an animal skin for warmth, clothing has meant more to man than mere protection from the elements. Not only does clothing make the man, but what we wear also helps define whom that man is. It is a form of magic that the threads we weave grant us.
Some times clothing is a symbol of authority or power. It could be a statement of individuality or an indication of membership in a peer group. Clothing not only helps identify us, but it can be used to hide who we are. Clothing can be a shield or an expression of who we want the world to see us as. A $2000.00 business suit tells the world that you are a successful businessman, but it could also be hiding criminal intent.