| In the sculptor's words...As a cross country
runner in high school I learned the lessons of tenacity. These are lessons I still
hold close. I learned the importance of persevering through pain and difficulty and
the rewards to be had by "going the distance."
How I learned to “go the distance” by
Jeff Tritel
My junior year in high school was a break out
year for me. At the beginning of that year I tried to avoid physical education class
by managing the cross country team after school. I don’t remember much of what
that job entailed other than handing out towels after practice. I got to watch the
runners run 10 mile workouts, I got to watch them cramp, I got to watch them vomit from
exertion. I couldn’t stand myself standing with a stopwatch while the team
sweated their hearts out. This lasted maybe a week until I asked the coach if I
could join the team. I was asthmatic and slow. The truth was that as a long
distance runner I was terrible. I literally ate everyone else’s dust. But
I learned. I learned to finish what I started. I learned that it’s far
more satisfying to be a participant that to be an observer. I learned about the
satisfaction of doing something that you thought you couldn’t and I learned the
importance of “going the distance.”
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