Carry the Brick

For the past four years, my son Jonathan has been a member of his high school cross-country team. He isn't the fastest runner on the team, but he shows up and he works hard. At the end of their summer training camp this year, the team captains gave Jonathan an award for being dedicated and dependable. Jon got the same award last summer too. I'm so proud of his commitment!

In a recent meet, Jonathan was a medal winner for what turned out to be a personal record (PR) in a 5K.

© 2016 Alison Walker
He entered the race determined to be one of the top fifteen finishers, and early in the race he and several of his teammates ran together to pace each other. The third mile is frequently the hardest for Jonathan, and in this race he felt like he had swallowed a brick at the two-mile mark. With that brick sitting in his stomach, Jonathan made the decision that he would just carry the brick to the finish line.

That's exactly what he did!