Connor’s Corner: Hebrews 12:1
By Connor Danz, Creative Editor
Despite a great deal happening to me over the last three years, I can still recall how my running journey began as if it were only yesterday. It was early spring of 8th grade, I was sitting in my high school’s tech room and had just finished broadcasting my school’s daily announcements. Once I finished them, the person who did the announcements, a math teacher and track coach, Mr. Dempsey walked up and said “You’re running outdoor track”.
That’s all he said. Who was I to argue with him? He was a teacher who was rising in the ranks at the school and I was an athlete who was lost in high school without a sport since I never tried out for my school’s basketball team, which is what I did at my old school. Funnily enough, it was something I was already considering since I was starting to get a little chubby and I needed something productive to do after school.
Despite how hard the journey has been physically and mentally, not once did I ever regret it. Running is an activity that builds someone’s character, especially if that someone chooses to be a long-distance runner. Distance teaches you essentially that, to go the distance, no matter how hard it is, you just have to keep going as that struggle makes the finish line all the more satisfying. I get that experience every time I cross the finish line of a race, no matter how long, short as 800 meters and as long as 13.2 miles. With learning to go the distance in a run, I find that this will bleed over into all other aspects of your life, learning to slowly and methodically approach a task, with a long-term plan in mind.
But for me, the most important thing that I gained from my running journey thus far is the connections and relationships I’ve built. I can guarantee that if you do not make acquaintances and friends at races, then you are doing it wrong. I can’t tell you how many people I have met at races, from small talk to team practice for school and small talking during races. I can’t tell you how many kind and awesome people I have met during these races and how many lifelong friends I have made through joining my school track teams.
The last thing I wanted to mention in this collection of random thoughts of my running experience is its connection to my religious belief. On my running shoes, I write “Hebrews 12:1”, as shown in the thumbnail of the article. This verse of the Hebrews book states “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” This has always had a deep meaning for me, tying one of my favorite activities with my faith. Whenever I feel myself slowing down or losing my energy, I look down at my shoes and I know that God has allowed me to do what I love through his will and sacrifice. For someone of the faith, this is deeply comforting.