![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This was said by one of the age group runners in the video interviews of the 2012 Iron Man World Championship. A middle-aged portly man said this, his face tight with withheld tears and strong emotion and I found myself tearing up with him and nodding vigorously.
How to explain what this race means to some of us? How some of us dream of it for years? One age group runner trained for 23 years to get there. They showed video of a woman running, one of her legs prosthetic. A man in a wheelchair. A 9/11 responder running the race *in his fucking fire gear*. Cancer survivors. Competitors in their 50s. Their 60s. Their 70s.
*Their 80s.*
This race…
I have dreamed of running this race since I was 14. But watching the rebroadcast tonight, I found myself watching technique, watching transitions, watching form… And I realized…
I really *do* see myself running in the Iron Man World Championship some day.
And I can tell you, when I cross the finish line (and I will, damn it), when I hear the announcer yell, “You are an Iron Man!” yes, I will burst into tears.
Because it means so much more than just being a race.
It is the highest and best expression of humanity’s indomitable will to be excellent. And one day, I will be one of them.
*crossposted from my tumblr…
Originally published at ANGELA N. HUNT. You can comment here or there.
