Everyone Has a Story

Sportsmanship.....

While many of us go out and race with others on a regular basis, we don't always know the inside stories. We can read the race results and see who won. We can find out our friend's splits. We might be lucky and read about the conditions on race day. But as we all know, triathlons are more than that. Each and every athlete has as story every single time they race. They experience highs and lows that are worth listening to. They go through moments of succes, periods of suffering, and hopefully they experience the pure joy of crossing that finish line. These stories are all worth sharing.

I have a friend who has a new blog. I want to share it with you. His last entry inspired this post of mine. He wrote about his 2009 race season. I watched Bob race at many races this year. He had a fantastic season and topped it off with a super fast day at Clearwater. He worked as hard as anyone I know to earn that spot and then conquer that day in Florida.

While reading his stories, I realized what an incredible person he is. Now, he is my friend and I already knew this, but there was something different here. It's worth sharing...

In his first race of the year, his goal was to win. I like that goal. Why not go for it, right? The race was a duathlon ...run/bike/run. On the first loop of the run, Bob's competitors took a wrong turn. He was in 3rd at this point. Instead of continuing on the right way, and slipping easily into first place, Bob stopped. He hollered to the guys who were ahead and steered them back the right way. He even allowed them to get back in front of him. As he said, a win is not a win unless you are the fastest. He didn't want any freebies. He wanted to win honestly. Click here to find out if he won or not. Bob's Story

First place or not, I'd say Bob was the winner that day. Wouldn't you?

One of the reasons I have loved Triathlon is because of the people. I have experienced amazing sportsmanship in this sport. I come from a long history of competitive sports and this has not always been the case. This sport I am enjoying as an adult is full of hard core training, racing until I can't see straight, and some of the most inspiring people I have ever known.

Reading each others blogs allows us to peak into the stories out there. The special moments that make this sport great.

Thanks for sharing that Bob. You earned everything you got that day.