Police Escort

This is a tale of three heroes. It is a tale of perseverance and kindness.

The scene is the Tucson Marathon and the man in black is the last runner. It is about an hour after the time limit elapsed but this man, who was hurting after running and walking about 24 miles wanted to finish. After about twelve miles he had to stop running and start walking. I was driving a Marathon Support Van and had repeatedly asked him if he wanted a ride to the finish. He said, "I've gone this far, I'm going to finish." So he walked, and he walked, and he walked. He was the last competitor.

The course at this point was along a State Highway, so the policeman driving this cruiser from the State Highway Patrol was kind enough to have accompanied this runner for about the last three miles, lights flashing in protection, window open and offering encouragement.

Immediately behind was the Trafficade truck that was picking up the traffic cones that marked the course and separated runners from traffic. They were kind enough to wait until the runner had passed before completing their pickups. They wanted to honor the perseverance of the competitor.

The man did complete the 26.2 miles. It was a victory even though he exceeded the time limit. It was his victory because he finished the course. In the ride from the finish back to his truck, He told me that a year ago he had weighed 400 pounds. "But I'm now down to 300." Just from looking at a person we can never judge or know their motivations.