The most extrordinary reason to race was given to me by ordinary runners. He was in his midst forties and had only been running for a few years.  He worked hard and raised a family. He had done all the things he thought he should do.

We were running together at midpoint of a large marathon. The day was beautifulthe crowds were terrrific. At evrey turn, people were lined up to show their support and give the runners encouragment.

I looked over in the race only to see this man had tears running down his face. My first thought was that he had injured himself. I could almost feel his dissappointment as  I moved closer to him.

"Whats wrong?" I asked."Are you hurt?" "No," he replied softly, "I'm not hurt."  "Then why the tears I asked?"  "Because I just realized that throughout my entire life no one has ever cheered for me before."  Soon I was crying with him.-Excerpt from The Courage to Start