5 minutes and 44 seconds is how long it took Gabrielle Andersen to run the last 400 meters that would carry her across the Marathon finish line. She came in 37th out of 44 runners. It was a race where, if I remember correctly, I read there were only three or four aid stations on the whole course, something unthinkable today!!! And on top of that, she ran right past one of them!!! A true test of survival, considering it was 32º with 96% humidity. But she made it, and she crossed the line. On the verge of collapse. Dragging half her body along because of the cramps. A heroic feat? Madness?
The history of the Olympic Games is full of feats and heroic exploits, some of them very risky. Sometimes we put our health on the line to achieve what, on the face of it, seems like just a sporting challenge. For a professional athlete, dropping out of a race means losing sponsors, or qualification for other races, or worse still, giving up on something you've been preparing for a year… two… or a whole lifetime, with sacrifice, hours of hard work, restrictions and even money invested. Sport becomes the epicenter of your life, and suddenly, a few meters from the finish line, everything clouds over, goes blurry, you have to stop… but you can't… something supernatural takes over, you don't quite know what it is, but it pushes you on, makes you do crazy things… and when you cross the line…
Preparing for races, whether my own as a professional or those of the amateur runners my coach and I work with, takes commitment to training, each at their own level of dedication, of course. That commitment is what drives us to outdo ourselves in every race we run, even when conditions aren't ideal. The tenacity built up in every one of those training sessions is what pushes us to keep moving forward despite the difficulties. And yet, for all the effort and sacrifice, there are times when we don't reach what we set out to do; sometimes we won't even make it across the finish line. Those are the moments when we mustn't lose sight of the real goal of what we do: enjoying running! The world doesn't end if you don't cross the finish line of that must-do half marathon, or even if you don't finish your Sunday long run.
I remember an interview with Gabrielle that I read, where she said that if it had been any other race, she wouldn't have hesitated to drop out. But the 1984 Olympics were unique and marked a turning point in athletics. The women's marathon was held for the first time, against the advice of all the experts, doctors and other health professionals, who believed the distance was too much for a woman and could even affect her future ability to have children… how far we've run since then… Switzerland's Gabrielle Andersen-Scheiss became a symbol of the entire Olympic movement when she entered the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum completely dehydrated. From then on, her feat would be remembered forever as an example of competitive tenacity, despite the harsh, dramatic images she showed the whole world that day.
Unbelievable as it may seem, she was fully recovered the very next day! Gaby Andersen had become so dehydrated that she lost her coordination and her sense of direction. Treated with IV fluids as soon as she crossed the finish line, by the next day she had recovered and was stunned by the worldwide stir her performance had caused.
For all its drama, Gabrielle's feat only reinforced the image of the sportswoman: committed, a fighter, able to endure. Without going to that extreme, of course, the happiness we feel when we push past our limits running also champions that image. That's my commitment, and the one I try to pass on to our runners: commitment, effort and happiness. And the real challenge is stepping up to the start line with that commitment still firm, because pushing your limits isn't about the result, but about how you got there in a way that leaves you feeling truly fulfilled.
There will be a thousand more races, and just as many training sessions. You run to be happy: what a great goal!!! And what an achievement to get there!!
