Champions come in all shapes and sizes. You might think that a champion is the person who comes in first, the person who runs the race the fastest. But that person is the winner. Being a champion takes more than just athletic talent and the ability to beat everyone else. It takes an attitude, a mindset, and dedication. It takes things that are not always easy to see or to measure. In fact, champions do a lot of things behind the scenes, and it is what happens off the course and outside of the race that is the true measure of a champion. If you want to identify the champions, sometimes you have to disregard race times and look at the bigger picture.
The GoGirls Team is full of champions, though our women are often champions off the race course, i.e., in real life. We have running talent, to be sure, but that is not the full story. One particular GoGirl springs to mind when I think about champions: Nana, our social queen and southern belle.
Nana is one of the original GoGirls and a former JeansMarine. She has run marathons, half-marathons, and a myriad of shorter races. To my knowledge, she has never actually placed in a race. But most of our GoGirls have not placed in a race, so she is in good company. What Nana does is start and finish the races. You may think that this is easy, but have you ever started a marathon and then finished it? It's 26.2 miles of running, sweating, grunting, aching, and, yes, suffering. Most southern belles wouldn't be caught dead in a marathon. Nana runs marathons AND plans the post-race festivities.
Here are some of the things that I consider make Nana a true champion...
When Nana was unable to run the Prince Edward County Half Marathon due to illness, she ran 21.1K two weeks later...so that she had covered the distance of the race, even if it was unofficially. Who does that?
Nana has been the gracious hostess for many GoGirls events.
Nana keeps coming out to run even though there are often not runners running at her pace. This means that Nana often has to run alone. But she still comes out to run.
Nana puts up with our teasing. Let's just say that Nana doesn't have the same dance moves as other groups members, and we don't let her forget it.
Nana makes dinner reservations and lunch reservations for our group. This is not a job I would want, and I am grateful that Nana takes on the pesky task of making sure there is somewhere for us to eat post-race or post-event.
Nana encourages other runners. Did you know that she cheers at races? She is one of those people who line race courses and cheer on other runners, even if a direct family member/spouse is not even running in that race! That is commitment to the sport of running. That is Nana being a champion for running.
The truth is that the GoGirls would not exist without Nana. And that is reason enough for me to call Nana a Champion.
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| Alain the Designated Husband, Nana the Champion, and Molly the Designated Pup. |
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