Finish Strong

Cross Country is a pure sport. You simply run as fast and as hard as you can for three miles. While runners possess vastly different skill levels, everyone can get better. But improvement is connected with one’s ability or willingness to endure pain. You have to train and then on the day of the race run harder than you ever thought you could. Throw up at the end of the race hard.

The last 250 yards of a Cross Country race is a remarkable spectacle. By the end of the race the lactic acid builds up in the runners’ bodies and muscles scream for them to stop. As they sprint toward the finish line, panting, the pain is etched on their faces. Sometimes runners cry, and I have seen more than one stumble and fall yards from the finish line. It is brutal to watch and inspiring at the same time.

My friend, Tim Gilfilen, talks about when he ran Cross Country in High School. There was a guy who attended all the meets and cheered on the runners over the last quarter of a mile. He screamed at the top of his lungs to everyone, “Finish strong.” No one ever knew who he was.

We all need a guy like that. Someone to whisper in our ear or maybe even to shout if need be. You can do this. Looking good. Almost to the end. Finish strong.

Sometimes it is harder than you ever thought it would be. Raising kids, surviving a pandemic, caring for your frail mom, suffering loss, boredom, being misunderstood, depression, fickle friends, anxiety, job uncertainty. Your emotional and spiritual muscles are cramping, and it really would be easier to just quit.

Don’t do that. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Come on. You can do it. Finish strong.