Run for Your Life

There is one motivational video that I really love. I cry whenever I watch it. The video stars Derek Redmond, a young athlete running in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. He and the other runners begin the 400-meter semifinals; the way they run is truly awesome – long, strong arms and legs moving so fast and so evenly it’s absolutely captivating.

 

Derek was about to win, but suddenly he breaks stride and shrieks in excruciating agony, bending over like a pretzel as the hamstring muscle on the back of his thigh rips. Meanwhile, the other runners leave him in the dust…

 

Derek is quickly approached by men with stretchers ready to carry him off the field. He ignores them, gets up and keeps going, with a limping hop that looks agonizing, pathetic and incredibly defiant.

 

Suddenly a shorter, older man comes hurrying from the sidelines onto the track, sidestepping security and pushing his way to Derek’s side. It’s his father. “You don’t have to do this,” his father tells him as he jogs beside his limping son.

 

“Yes, I do,” answers Derek.

 

His father says to him, “Okay, so we will do it together.” He puts his arm around Derek and supports him as he hobbles along. Derek turns his face towards his father and begins to sob. His heartache is obvious. His father waves away the men that motion him and Derek to come off the track. He yells at one of them to go away. The look on his son’s face is filled with despair and we immediately understand how much he wanted to win this race.

 

We can easily imagine the years of training that this British champion so devotedly invested and the excitement he must have felt as an Olympic finalist. Who knows how many other things he put aside to dedicate himself to running and how much it meant to him to win! And just a few minutes into the race, he pulls a muscle and he’s out.

 

Derek and his father keep walking: limp, step, limp, step, limp…

 

By now Derek has calmed down; he isn’t crying anymore. He just keeps going with his father beside him, holding him up. And then Derek’s face changes. He realizes there are cameras on him, that far from being forgotten and left behind, thousands of people are watching him make his way towards the finish line. He regains his composure and begins to regain his confidence. His father continues beside him; they don’t speak.

 

When Derek reaches the finish line 150,000 people stand up and cheer. He got more attention than the actual winner, and went on to become an example of tenacity and grit. He was determination at its best; but more than that, he demonstrated something else. Derek knew he had no chance of winning. Why would he bother going on, in great pain no less? What was the point, if the whole point is to win?

 

But what is winning?

 

Derek Redmond, in the few seconds he was crouching on the track, must have decided that winning meant attaining his goal, no matter what. It was no longer possible to be the fastest runner; indeed, now he was now coming in last, but that wasn’t the point anymore. The point was reaching the finish line, not giving up the race. Since he refused to be carted off to the side and demanded to keep going, he became a different kind of winner and a legend to boot. Derek became a hero because ultimately he was challenging himself. He also was blessed to have his father’s arms around him, his father’s soothing presence and his father’s unconditional love.

 

“You don’t have to do this,” his father told him.

 

“Yes I do!” insisted Derek.

 

His father answered, “Then we will do it together.”

 

The lesson is, that if we really want to reach our goals, if we refuse to give up despite the pain, with the help of Hashem our holy Father we will reach the finish line and the angels will be cheering.