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Special Athletes Lead by Example, by Ron Boemker, USATF
Power of the Spirit
Photos Jim Rae/Disabled Sports USA.
As a teacher, I have a lot of students ask questions about the recent tragedy in New York. It's hard to make sense of what happened. It's also hard for young people to feel that there is anything they can do. Because of this, I wanted to write to all the young runners who click onto the KidsRunning.Com page. I also wanted to write about a group of remarkable teenage runners I met this summer. Seeing how they live their lives might help us remain positive in ours. But first, most of you probably know of an exercise where someone takes an empty 8 ounce glass and pours 4 ounces of water into it. That 4 ounces is exactly half the volume of the glass. Next they ask the question, "What do you see?" One person answers, "I see a glass that is half empty." Another answers, "I see a glass that is half full." The interesting thing is that both people are right. The glass is both half empty and half full. But, even though both answers are right, both answers are very different. The person who said it was half empty was thinking about what was missing, about what he didn't have.  The other person was an optimist looking on the bright side. He was thinking about what he did have. Thinking like that makes a person feel good.I know, when times are tough, that we all need to think about what we have: our parents, our friends, the fun we have when we run, and other positive things. We all feel sad for the people in New York and want to help them in some way, but the best way young people can help right now is to work hard in school, help out at home, be good brothers or sisters, be a good friend to someone, run and play, and believe that the life ahead will be full of many good things.  Another way to stay positive is to follow the examples of others. When I was in San Diego, California in August, I saw some amazing young runners. They are Rudy Garcia-Tolson, Kelly Bruno, Andrew Lester, and Jeff Skiba. They all could have decided to complain about how their lives were harder than other kids' lives. One of them, Rudy, doesn't even have the kind of legs most of you do. When you look at Rudy's picture, you can see that he lost both of his legs above the knees. The legs he runs on look like posts to most of us. Would you believe that Rudy is 13 years old and has run a half marathon (13 miles) and participated in triathlons? At the meet in San Diego, he ran 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) in 23:59. That's 7:44 a mile. AMAZING! Then there's Kelly. Kelly is 17 and lives in Boca Raton, Florida. She is on her high school track team. She lost part of her leg when she was 6 months old. Now she runs and does the long jump. She is so good that she qualified for the world championships and went all the way to England to compete. AMAZING!  Next there's Andrew from Greensboro, North Carolina. He is 14 years old. Because of a birth defect, part of his leg was amputated when he was a year old. He ran the 1500 in 4:39. He's good enough to run for his high school. He also swims, does gymnastics, and plays baseball and golf. AMAZING!Finally, there's Jeff from Washington. He's 17 and goes to Skyline High School. Even though one foot and part of his lower leg are missing, Jeff high jumped 6.5 feet and tied the world record. He could jump over most people. AMAZING! I wanted to let you know about these four teenage athletes who enjoy running and jumping because they set a good example. They could feel sorry for themselves and spend most of their time thinking how life isn't fair. Instead, they make the most of their lives.  They like to run, so they run. They like to jump, so they jump. They go to parties, laugh, and enjoy being with their friends. Their lives have already been full of travel and great experiences and it's because they are positive. When times are tough, we need to be like them. We need to deal with problems when they happen but always think of all the fun, running, and excitement ahead of us. It's like I said at the beginning of the article, We need to think that our glasses are half full. We need to think about what we have and what we can do with our lives and how we can help make the lives of others better.  Special Note: If you know of any young athletes who might like to get involved in sports, you can contact Disabled Sports USA at dsusa.org. Special Note for Teachers and Coaches: An eight minute professional video with a great sound track was made at the track meet in San Diego. It shows the above athletes as well as other amputees and wheelchair athletes. I've used it in a regular classroom setting and with coaches and athletes. There has always been a great response. If you are interested in getting a copy of the tape, it can be ordered through Disabled Sports USA by sending a check for $15 to DS/USA, 451 Hungerford Drive, Suite 100, Rockville, MD, 20850 or by going todsusa.org Ron Please email goodrow@infi.net with comments on this article.
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