Running the Race to Win

 Running the Race to Win

A brother confessed to Abba Sisoes: “I fell, Father. What do I do now?”

 “Get up,” the holy elder told him, with his characteristic simplicity.

 “I got up, Father, but I fell again into the cursed sin,” the brother confessed grievingly.

 “And what prevents you from getting up again?”

 “Until when?” asked the brother.

 “Until death finds you, whether standing or falling down. It is written, „wherever I shall find you, there I will also judge you, ‟ the elder

explained. „Just pray to God that you are found at your last moment standing upright in holy repentance.”

Monday night, August 3, 1992 at the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. 65,000 fans in the stadium.

Millions were watching on television around the world.

As race time approached for the semifinal 400-meter heat. 

Everything seemed to be coming together for him at last. He was the favorite in the 400 meters. He was running well: he recorded the fastest time of the first round and he won his quarterfinal

heat.

​

Derek Redmond was ready to realize his lifelong dream of earning a gold medal in the 400-meter dash. The gun fired, and Derek shot out of the starting blocks in an unbelievable start. 

Suddenly Derek heard a pop, followed by a shooting pain that ran up his leg.

His Achilles tendon had just torn.

His face turned ashen.

His leg quivering, Derek began hopping on one leg, then slowed down and fell to the track. His face contorted in response to the physical pain he was feeling.  

He grabbed his leg and rolled around on the ground. Those who were in close proximity heard him scream out in agony.

 Lying there, Derek looked at all the other racers streaking far ahead of him. There was absolutely no way for him to catch up. The dream was dead.

​

 At this very second, he had a choice to make.

Was he going to accept his fate and give up  or was he going to go the distance and finish the race?

As the medical crew arrived with a stretcher, he waved them off, “No, there‟s no way I‟m getting on that stretcher. I‟m going to finish my race!” . He began to hop and limp the best he could around the track, giving it everything he had to reach the finish line.

Quitting was not a part of his vocabulary.

The stunned crowd couldn't believe what they were seeing. Gradually, they realized that Derek was not dropping out of the race.

He was not limping off the track in defeat, but was actually continuing on one leg, in a fiercely determined effort to make it to the finish line.

Then the drama took a new twist.

There was a stir at the top of the stands. Jim Redmond, seeing his son in trouble, was desperately working his way down toward the track.  He’d watched his son train for this moment for four years. His son had come to Barcelona for one reason: to finish this race. He knew how important that was to Derek, and he was willing to do whatever it took to see his son achieve that goal. Finally Jim reached his son at the final curve, about 120 meters from the finish, and wrapped his arm around his waist.

Derek initially tried to push him away, not realizing who he was, but then he heard his father say, “Derek, it’s me,” and “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do,” Derek said, through clenched teeth. “Well, then,” said Jim, without hesitating, “we’re going to finish this together.

​

Derek put his arms around his father’s shoulders and sobbed. Together, arm in arm, father and son struggled toward the finish line with 65,000 people cheering, clapping, and crying.

In the stadium the crowd was standing and cheering. Together they remained faithful to the goal. A couple of steps from the finish line, and with the crowd in an absolute frenzy, Jim released the grip he had on his son, so Derek could cross the finish line by himself.

Afterwards, Jim threw his arms around Derek again and both were crying, as was everyone else in the stands and on TV.

“I’m the proudest father alive,” Jim told the press afterwards, tears in his eyes. “I’m prouder of him than I would have been if he had won the gold medal. It took a lot of guts for him to do what he did.”Later, when asked about his decision to hop on, Derek continued, “I wasn’t going to let an injury keep me from finishing.”

 

Derek didn’t win an Olympic Gold Medal, but he came away with something more valuable. Life often throws pain at us. Many times we surrender and allow the caretakers to run to our aid and give up on our goal. But Derek had two things working for him that day: the desire to run the complete race; and a father whose love for his son surpassed any obstacle in his way.

After retirement, Mr. Derek Redmond

·         secured a place on the Great Britain national basketball team

·         Redmond formerly served as Director of Development for sprints and hurdles for UK Athletics.

·         In 1994, Redmond won Celebrity Gladiators

·         Redmond currently does motivational speaking on the conference circuit

·         Redmond raced a motorcycle in the Hottrax Motorsport Racing Club with his team in conjunction with Maria Costello, as Costello Redmond Racing.

·         He currently co-owns a Superbike Team.

Life is like a boxing ring, defeat is not declared when one falls down, its declared when one refuses to get up.