FROM WHERE I SIT

We’re All in This Together (Life, That Is)

Recently, two of the CRI team, Tracy Stroder and Johnny Diaz took part in the Florence Marathon (yes, that’s Florence as in Firenze as in Italy). But just running any old marathon, even through the streets of that bella citta, was not enough for these two. In conjunction with the San Francisco Aids Foundation, they were able to turn their personal participation into a fund-raiser as well. We are so proud of both for being part of a cause in which they believed enough to put up with the endless training and sacrifice of all of their free (i.e. non-work related) time.

At the end of Johnny’s run, suffering with muscle cramps and extreme exhaustion, the thought of a bed or any soft, horizontal surface was all that he could desire. He headed straight back to his hotel, showered, changed his clothes and flopped on the bed. The first thought that came to his mind was “Wait a minute. What am I doing here? The race is still going on and I could be cheering on the runners that still hadn’t crossed the finish line!”

So he heads back to the route to see if he could find his running mate Tracy. He notices one young woman, who he had just met a couple of days earlier, struggling to finish that final leg of the run.  Johnny noticed that she was in tears and despite his verbal encouragement she said that she didn’t think that she could make that last ¾ of a mile to the finish. “Yes, you can,” said Johnny, “I’ll make it with you”. So Johnny gets back in the race, in FLIP-FLOPS this time, and helps his friend across the line!

But wait, there’s more. Johnny still hasn’t seen Tracy so he walks back along the route and finally sees her moving toward the finish. Johnny gets back in the race AGAIN, and still in flip-flops, accompanies Tracy just so they can cross the finish line together.

So sometimes just doing your personal best is not enough. It is finding the energy and the spirit to go beyond our sense of competition to help others to find their own personal best. That, for me, is one definition of a hero.