26.2 miles.
That kind of mileage can tell you a lot about a runner.
Yeah, yeah, we know runners are fit and they can out pace the average Joe… but we’re looking at something much bigger: something colossal like CHARACTER!
And this photo demonstrates a perfect example. 4 hours prior to capturing the finisher image… Andrea – who trained 14 weeks for the Dallas Marathon – almost passed out and QUIT at the 22 mile mark. For trained athletes, quitting is the equivalent to cursing out Mother Theresa. You just don’t do it!
But there are exceptions… And Andrea was dangerously close. Along the 26.2 mile course, Andrea battled GI issues, nausea, dizziness and eventually fatigue. Her trained pace dwindled from 11:30 to 12 then 14. Something was wrong but she was doing everything right. She started walking to bring her heart rate down. Drank water, ingested electrolytes, sodium even carbs. She was headed for a “DNF” aka “Did Not Finish”. In fact, had she been alone – she might have.
BUT SHE WASN’T.
And no matter who you are – and what you do… whether its running competitively or starting a new business in the marketplace… everyone will one day reach this crossroad.
Greatness isn’t discovered when all goes well…
It is always unearthed, under pressure – when all goes wrong.
The game changer is your circle. Your support system. Your core group of friends. Your mentors. Your family. Your own personal “BIG YES”! It will either be your anchor or your sail.
Or in Andrea’s case: her cape! It’s amazing how God placed Superwoman’s husband and her children 100 yards away from her breakdown.
Mr. Superman, who also happens to be a physician knew exactly what she needed – and pushed a liquid recovery drink to her mouth. No kidding, within minutes she was ready to start pacing again. Even the ambulance that had pulled over was shocked and said, “She doesn’t need us”.
So off we went… Andrea, with her first born daughter holding her hand… her rag tag crew of pacers… and even a few strays we picked up along the way; walked and jogged intervals the final 4 miles. Who cared that the course shut down. We have a finish line to cross!
2 hours later, the miracle was not Andrea finished. The miracle is how she finished: surrounded by people who didn’t beat her down for being 2 hours short of her goal pace, but reminded her the race is not given to the swift, nor to the slow… but to the one who endures.
Remember, Oprah, Michael Jordan and Steve Jobs all came precipitously close to failing… And now they are legends. Lesson here: Get immersed in a circle where you are the least successful and least knowledgeable in the group… and rise. Your business or even in your personal life you will accomplish the impossible… just like Andrea!
Shon Gables 
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