There is an Athlete in You
A story from the Mayor's Marathon, by Mel Kalkowski

This year I volunteered to be the sweeper for the marathon course at the Mayor’s Marathon. The sweeper’s job is to be at the very end of the pack, to insure that no one is left behind and to clear the course.

As a sweeper, you can go further than the 26.2 miles of the marathon going back and forth between walkers/runners and checkpoints and catching up after briefing checkpoints.

Although I’m not very fast, I’m not usually at the very end of the pack. The view from the end is different. The story I want to tell isn’t about those that couldn’t complete the course, or had to call for the sag wagon. It’s about the woman I spent most of the day with steadily walking toward a goal.

Her name is Leslie and she is from Ohio. She has leukemia/lymphoma and she is awaiting treatment. She walked as part of Team in Training. This was her first marathon and she knew it would be a challenge. She represents a distinct group of people that take on the marathon challenge. They know they will not qualify for the Boston Marathon, or even place well, but they want to finish the race.

There’s a lot of debate in some running circles about the validity or appropriateness of this kind of marathoner.

I watched Leslie struggle to complete the course. She got tired, she got sore, but she kept moving. When we finally cleared the tank trail (a gravel covered challenge that does in many on this course), she set her sights on finishing before the course closed. It took her eight and one half hours, but today she is a marathoner and that is something special, no matter how long it took.

We’ve accidentally, or intentionally, convinced a lot of people in this country that they will never be athletes when they could be. We are paying the price for that in health care, in personal satisfaction, and self image.

As I listened to Father’s Day radio ads that advocated getting Dad a new HDTV so he could “watch more sports” (which is what men want to do according to the ad), I had to think that getting Dad active in a sport might just mean Dad will be around longer to celebrate more Father’s Days.

So if you are thinking about taking on this challenge or any other athletic endeavor, remember Leslie. Take a look at the names of UAA employees that participated in the Marathon, Half Marathon and 5 Milers (view list). They are just like you. Come and join them because there is an athlete in every one of us.

Mayor's Marathon 2009 Results

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