CoachNet Campfire

I’m a runner. I run. Usually 100-160 miles a month. I run to stay fit, manage stress and because I love how I feel after a good run.

Sometimes I run in races. I have no chance to win but I usually finish near the front of the pack. Well…in my age bracket anyway!

I ran a race last weekend. Ten miles. It was great. Beautiful day, challenging course, large field, a few world class runners and lots of people cheering us on.

I first saw her in the warm up area. Pink running outfit and shoes…her head wrapped in a pink scarf…cancer.

Distance races have a certain protocol. The more competitive runners start at the front. The slower ones at the back so there’s less pushing and jostling for position as the race begins. I am usually somewhere in the middle.

My running partner spied the woman I mentioned behind us a few yards.  We moved back so we would start behind her. She looked at us somewhat surprised. I said, “Darlin’, the race you’re in is, by far, out pacing everyone of us! You’re the real competitor around here.” She smiled and nodded her acceptance of our simple gesture.

On the back of her running singlet was a quote from the legendary running coach John “The Penguin” Bingham. It read, “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

A hundred good reasons, I’m sure, our pink friend would have for not running in the race. Not one of them could trump her courage to start.

Sometimes when coaching others the key lies not in asking what do you need to stop, or keep doing to achieve your goal but what do you need to start? Most of the time starting something new requires stopping two or three other things. Much of coaching is helping those you serve overcome their unwillingness to start. Helping them find courage to act on what they already know to do.

This week, how will you empower those you are coaching to find the courage they need to live the miracle of starting something new?