To put it all out there and see what happens takes courage, discipline, confidence, leadership, and faith. I hope I have imbued my sons with all of those characteristics. Why? Because those are some of the things I believe will help them have a rewarding, productive, and successful life.
Yesterday, in 90 + degree heat, I had the privilege of watching Joe compete for the MBA junior school cross country team in a meet at Ensworth High School. It's my least favorite course the boys run on because there is no shade, it's two laps, and the course is, well, flat and boring. It doesn't feel like a real cross country race. It feels like a bunch of kids running in a field.
Pretty quickly after the start, a group of three - including Cullen Weaver (one of my favorite boys and one whom I've known forever) - broke away. An Ensworth boy, a USN boy, and Cullen. Joe was in the second group, running 10 yards or so behind the first group when I saw him at what I think was about the half-mile mark. He didn't look particularly comfortable, so I was thinking it might be a difficult two miles for him.
When the boys completed the first lap and approached me again, the first two had pulled away and Cullen was in third, 20 - 25 yards behind the two leaders. Joe and the second group of runners had fallen back a little further and were spreading out a little bit. Joe was running with two boys from MBA, in positions 8 8 - 10, in the rear of the second group. As Joe passed me, he was staring straight ahead, focused. I've seen that look on JP in many races over the years.
The boys turned right and ran under the bridge, which is the part of the course I call the dark side of the moon. Few spectators. Desolate. No contact. You wait, and wait, and wait until, at last, the boys emerge, turn right, and run the final quarter mile to the finish, which is in in the middle of the field. A very anticlimactic finish, at that, due to the course layout.
When Joe rounded the corner, he was in the 10th spot, just behind his MBA teammates. I could see he was spent. Really fighting it the point of exhaustion, so much so that I asked him if he was okay. He nodded his head in response, focused intently on completing the race. I was exceptionally proud of him in that moment because I saw a side of Joe I don't often get to see but one I want to see more of. Intense and concentrating on the task at hand. Laying it all on the line.
I ran to the finish line, past it actually, to get the Styrofoam cooler I had picked up on my way to the race. I had put some iced down bottled waters and a Gatorade in it, which I knew Joe would need after the race. When I got to the finish line, JP was with Joe, which was a nice moment. I poured some ice cold water over Joe's head, gave him the bottle, and congratulated him on a well run race.
I was happy for him when he learned he ran a 12:44 - a PR - 15 seconds faster than last week. Progress! He was proud, too, as he should have been.
Does Joe love to run cross country, and to race? I'm curious about that and I don't know the answer. Not yet, anyway. Time will tell. For now, though, I'm proud of him for the work he's putting in, every day, and the courage he is showing in toeing the line every week at a race.
After the race, after Coach Reynolds addressed the boys, he said, "Joe Newman, where are you? Break us down!"
Joe pushed through to the middle of the group of the hot, sweaty, exhausted boys and yelled "1, 2, 3 . . . Go Big Red!"
I nodded, smiled, and fought back a quick, unexpected tear as I stood on the periphery of the group of boys.
JP, with retired USN cross country and track coach, Zaf Ahmed, a legend in the Nashville running community.
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