Last night I showed the short video below--already a classic in the growing collection of ultrarunning documentaries--to my almost 9-year-old son. At varying times, he and I have talked about what it means to be "all in"--totally dedicated to the moment at hand, doing it right every step of the way, and stopping at nothing to get the goal achieved. In this video, "Miller vs. Hawks," with The North Face Endurance Challenge 50-miler in San Francisco as the backdrop, we see two athletes who are "all in."
But the athlete who most strikes me is Zack Miller, winning the hilly race despite a ferocious challenge from the young Hawks. You can see Miller's "all in" dedication throughout (and Hawks' too) but especially in the end as he is looking to put time on Hawks, who is trailing in second only a minute or two behind. Miller's breathing in the last 3+ miles says it all. Miller's raw talent is exceeded only by his heart--he runs with the heart of a lion.
Also striking is the sportsmanship between Miller and Hawks. Miller, after celebrating his win, waits for Hawks to finish and then helps the exhausted Hawks to the ground, even assisting him in stretching out his legs. The two congratulate each other after a hard-fought race. These two guys are champions.
At a time when there are a dwindling number of athletes to look up to, I was proud to show this video to my son and point to how these two athletes ran the race so hard and showed what it means to be "all in."
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