This weekend I ran my first runDisney race. As part of my 2019 New Year's goal list, I want to do one thing each month that I have never done before. My January goal was to run a 10K in my best time, without stopping. And mid-race, I had an epiphany. Anything you do for the first time will always be a personal best, which is why this is the best New Year's goal I've ever made! By the end of the year, I can add 12 new accomplishments to my list. After crossing the finish line at the end of my 10K, I truly got choked up a bit. I'm not proud of myself often. I don't really flourish in my accomplishments or toot my own horn. But for once, I did something by myself, for myself. The only person I was proving anything to was me. And while to some people 6.2 miles is a casual run, to me it was a milestone. I am not a runner by any means. But, everyone begins at a different place with a new personal goal, bound to be followed by their new personal best.
This brings me to today. During race weekend at Walt Disney World, Thursday begins with a 5K, Friday a 10K, Saturday a half-marathon and Sunday ends the weekend with a full 26.2 marathon. I woke up at 2:00 this morning to head to the final day of the races for work with our partners at Advent Health. I waited at the finish line for our crew to finish up filming. As I watched the runners cross the finish line, my eyes started to well with tears. While I got this overwhelming feeling of joy crossing the finish line after 6 miles, I couldn't even fathom the thought of how these people must be feeling after doing 20 more miles than I had done.
I saw the good, the bad and the ugly.
One man's legs simply gave out. I watched as he bear-crawled over the finish line using just his arms, dragging his legs behind him. His mile time was under 8 minutes.
A young girl, about my age, came in around the 10-minute average mile pace. She was running alone. As she stepped over the finish, she threw her head in her hands and cried. It was her first full-marathon ever.
A disabled woman in a bike crossed the finish line with her husband. As he ran, he pushed her in her wheelchair for all 26 miles. That one really got me.
How incredibly miraculous are people? To carry yourself through the pain and the fatigue for 26.2 miles is beyond amazing. To drag your tired body across a finish line after your legs give out, to train for your first full marathon ever and complete it in record time, to have so much love in your heart for a person that not only do you carry yourself 26 miles, but to push your best friend along with you-- these are the people I aspire to be.
I'm not exactly sure what my other 11 goals are going to be this year. They may not always make me feel the same way my 10K did. Some of my "new" accomplishments may be smaller, like reading books or starting a new hobby. But, I know one thing is for sure: each one will be a new personal best.
What accomplishment are you most proud of? What's something you've always wanted to do but never found the time to try? I'd love to hear about your "marathon feeling."
Stay smilin' -- Steph
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