My Brother the Rabbit

Last week my brother Ryan competed at the NCAA Division III National Track Championships in the Decathlon. He started off well - he usually dominates in the sprints. He jumped a personal best in the second event of the day (long jump) and did well in the shot put and high jump. The last event of the first day is the 400. Ryan is an excellent 400 runner. He was in lane 8 in his heat. While running the first curve he stepped on the inside line for two steps. He ended up being disqualified from the 400. (Don't get me started on the inconsistencies the NCAA showed here, and how a college volunteer made the call, and how other decathletes also stepped on the inside line when they ran but were not disqualified and admitted they should have been - I digress.) Ryan could have thrown a fit and become upset - instead he accepted the decision with grace and decided he was going to do the best he could in the second day of competition. Ryan did well the second day including being 2nd in the discus. The last event is the 1500. The guy who had been in first the entire competition was not a very good distance runner. The guy in 2nd place was nipping on his heels. Ryan volunteered to be a rabbit (pace setter) for the guy in first place. Ryan set the pace for him and continually talked to him and encouraged him to run faster. The guy ended up running a 25 second personal best and winning the decathlon. Ryan ended up running the 1500 slower than he usually does by about 10 seconds. If he had not been disqualified he would have placed 4th.

I can't describe how proud of Ryan I am. He competed with class. He was an example to all the competitors what it means to be Christ-like. I am prouder of how he handled the situation he was dealt than I would be if he had ended up 4th. And the best part is that I know my dad is in heaven looking down and saying "Way to go Ry!"