A Long Time to Break a Five Minute Goal

I ended my last post by writing that I have several more heroes that I am going to write about and use them as motivation as I continue on my quest to look good naked.

Last week I received an email from the father of one of my son and daughter’s high school cross country and track teammates, Glen Staples. He had read my post and wanted me to know that Glen, now a senior at Susquehanna University has just attained a longtime running goal.

It brought tears to my eyes because I remember Glen very well. He was a freshman when my son, Brandon, was a senior. Glen was a very tall, slim and shy freshman who showed up to practice every day and did his best. I got the sense that he really enjoyed the other kids on the team and as he adjusted to the longer distance of high school cross country he really enjoyed the process of simply running.

I think it was during his junior year when I watched him run the mile at the local conference championship meet. He was in the slow heat and it gave him an opportunity to shine. It was great to watch him battle and move his 6’4”, angular body around the track. I was yelling and screaming as he sprinted down the back stretch and won his heat.

His time was somewhere around five minutes and ten seconds and I was hoping that he would get a chance to break five minutes in the mile before he graduated from high school.

In high school breaking five minutes in the miles carries some prestige. Being able to say you ran "four something" is a big deal.

Glen didn’t attain that goal in high school. I’m not sure what his best time was but I don’t think it was much better than the time he ran at the conference championship.

When he went away to college me kept on running with the goal of breaking five minutes. While breaking five minutes in the mile in high school can bring you respect, not breaking five minutes in the mile at a college track meet can leave you ignored as some of the runners at the college meets are trying to break or will break four minutes in the mile.

For the next three and half years Glen ran track and cross country at the college level and pursued his goal of breaking five minutes in the mile. Last week at the Susquehanna Indoor Invitational Glen ran 4:56.99 . I wish I had been there to see it because I would have been yelling, screaming and jumping up and down.

This is what makes Glen one of my heroes. He pursued his dream by pushing himself over a very long time and he didn’t compare himself to runners who were faster.

People like Glen remind me to pursue my own dreams.

Thanks for being one of my heroes Glen, you’ve given me the energy and drive to get on the treadmill as I keep working on my own goal of looking good naked and knowing that it doesn't mean that I am trying to look perfect naked.