Ondaatje Medal Challenge

 

To the Ondaatje Medal Runners: 

 

“Not to move forward, to stay where we are, to regress, in other words to rely on what we have, is very tempting, for what we have, we know; we can hold on to it, feel secure in it. We fear, and consequently avoid taking a step into the unknown, the uncertain; for, indeed, while the step may not appear risky to us after we have taken it, before we take that step the new aspects beyond it appear very risky, and hence frightening. Only the old, the tried, is safe; or so it seems. Every new step contains the danger of failure, and that is one of the reasons people are so afraid of freedom.” -Erich Fromm, To Have or To Be? 

 

I have always loved this excerpt. Some of you hit the times, some of you ran further than you have ever ran before and maybe some of you were hoping to go faster. Possibly a few of you were surprised by your ability to endure or the kick you could unleash in the last 100 meters. But I always, or at least on my better days, saw running as a means to assert my freedom. Sometimes it was the freedom of being alone in the quiet but in the 15 marathons I competed in, running represented a certain kind of liberation from fear. Being terrified of the distance, fearing injury, fearing pain and abiding with a crushing fear of letting myself down. 

 

And then doing it anyway. 

 

All of you did that today. Many of you literally took a step into the unknown, endured and then returned to tell the tale. 

 

Maybe running isn't your thing and maybe this is the last 10km you ever do. But I am not sure that's the point of this event anyway. I think the point is to try. Try when you're scared. Maybe try especially when you're scared. 

 

It is a privilege to bear witness to your greatness. 

 

Every last one of you. 

 

Well done.