—Not long ago an acquaintance referred to me as an athlete. It took me by surprise. I have never thought of myself as an athlete. I am not a jock. My tennis and golf games give true meaning to the term “hacker.” In high school I did student newspaper, yearbook, speech and debate and yes, drama.
—I was just a sports fan. Jocks were in a class by themselves. But now with years of running behind me, including many marathons, can I really be an “athlete?”
—It makes me wonder where all those high school and college athletes are now. Chances are, like me, many have discovered a lifetime sport like tennis or golf. Some may even have become runners.
—You know there are others that, burned out by early competitions, have followed the path of least resistance to become couch potatoes. You and I have heard the story: “Too busy, bad knees, no wind, shin splints…. I could do it if I had the time. Sounds like work to me! Maybe after I quit smoking…..”
—Remember the line from the A. E. Housman poem, To An Athlete Dying Young.
“Early though the laurel grows, it withers quicker than the rose.”
—Perhaps “late bloomers” are the true athletes. Committed to your sport for a lifetime, going for a run or ride any time, any place, any weather, at any age, during times of stress and often when you really don’t even feel like it.
“Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honors out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.”
—No one celebrates your effort. There are no cheering crowds at the end of your run. No one places the laurel of “champion” on your crown. But you are still there after the bloom of youth has faded. You are still running when many of those high school and college stars can only polish the trophies they earned as teens. And you are still running.
—I applaud you! You are a rose!

This post first appeared in www.runningmoms.com