Fast forward 65 years later and you may hear about a Kenyan named Eliud Kipchoge this week. He did something no one thought possible as well. He ran a marathon, 26.2 miles, UNDER 2 hours! Kipchoge eclipsed the tape at 1:59:40.2. It was in a special race with pace setters and on a 6 mile track, so not exactly a marathon as we would know it, but the 26.2 miles are the same. For those math nerds thinking about it, Kipchoge AVERAGED a mile in 4 minutes and 33 seconds.
These impossible feats become less so with each passing day as humans figure out how to get the most out of their physiology and the science surrounding it. But for the athletes, it’s still a cause to stop and applaud.
Erik Weihenmayer in 2001 climbed Mount Everest. A feat that is immensely difficult in itself, but Erik is the first climber who did it despite being blind.
Since 1875, only 44 people had ever swum the English Channel, a treacherous 21 mile stretch of open water that requires negotiating strong currents, jellyfish stings and cold temperatures. But just a month ago, a 37 year old cancer survivor from Colorado named Sarah Thomas took the challenge to a new level, swimming the channel FOUR times in 54 hours and 10 minutes! With currents battering her throughout, she wound up swimming over 120 miles!
A four time cancer survivor and paraplegic Aron Anderson skied from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole, a 400 mile trek that was in an average of -30 weather. Martin Tye, an English Lance Corporal who was injured in Afghanistan in 2009 set a world record in May with a seated dead lift of 1,113 and 5 ounces despite lower leg trauma and suffering from PTSD. And Xia Boyu, a Chinese double amputee, climbed Mt. Everest just last year. He lost his legs in a failed Everest attempt years before.
In Cebu, an island in the Philippines, a group of women, breast cancer survivors all, formed a team and participated in the country’s very first Sitting Volleyball Tournament in early October. It was a small tournament but the team wore white uniforms with their names in pink on the back, and the front stating, “Volleyballers Spike Out Breast Cancer.”
They didn’t win a game but they laughed, enjoyed the tournament, the other teams and the chance to be together on a court and compete; to fight! Something they have all done so much in the past few years. While they finished last, they earned the respect of everyone in the gym. Beauty comes in all shapes, colors and sizes and the very first Sitting Volleyball tournament in the Philippines had found their beautiful!
While Kipchoge’s record is an amazing feat, all those mentioned below his name are people with disabilities. They have done amazing things, conquered their own demons and did the extraordinary. Many continue to push for more.
In the same city of Cebu, a group of paddlers have done their own kind of extraordinary. They were written about a few years ago but in just three short years, they have defined the word champion in every sense. Their story is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CersAk1GwY
A few weeks ago, our Region lost a coach. Doug was a west valley guy, coached 13’s and 14’s usually, had ties to several clubs and a high school during his years with the Region. Nine years ago, this avid hiker, half marathoner and work out fiend contracted lung cancer. He never smoked a day in his life. The cruelty of life’s random acts can only be justified by poets and survivors. He never let his disease stop him. Months after his diagnosis and chemo and radiation, he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa with his son. A few years later, he would climb to base camp in Nepal, looking up at Mt. Everest.
He continued to coach as he staved off the disease year after year, roller coasters of fear and emotions he kept to himself. He strived to be a better coach every season because he felt he owed it to his athletes, and to himself. A year when the disease got the better of him, he stepped back from coaching but officiated. He also would help run tournaments. He loved the game and being a part of it. He was a fixture in volleyball in our Region for the past 15+ years, but Doug wasn’t about him. He wasn’t someone who would yell at a referee or a player; he handled parent and player issues with a professionalism befitting most Ambassadors or the clergy. He passed away giving all he had left, surrounded by his family, and left an indelible mark on the kids he coached, the people he worked with and this grateful author.
At times, we are surrounded by heroes we don’t know are heroes. They fly under the radar by choice, bucking the social trends of calling attention to themselves at every turn. There are some that say we are all disabled in one way or another and maybe that’s true. But the currency by which we should define our lives is what we do with those barriers.
Erik, Sarah, Aron, Martin, Xia, the Volleyballers from Cebu, the PADS Dragon Boaters and Doug, they set the standard by which we should live.
They don’t settle, they conquer.
No comments:
Post a Comment