Desiree Davila solo at the 15K, well behind the lead pack at the 2011 Boston Marathon. As you may know, she eventually fought an exciting multi-surge sprint-to-the-finish battle to a 2 second loss for 2nd place. (And if you don't know, you should watch it, this is history in the making, and a great race. American women are slowly climbing the ladder to be able to compete with the African Women in distance running.)
She put in the best American woman's Boston Marathon performance in at least 16 years.
And, consequently, this picture is one of my favorite sport photos of all time.
If you miss the confidence in her gait, you might think she's falling off the pack.
But, I know how it ends. I woke my husband that AM with my PST shouting, cheering, and crying as she almost became the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985 in the waning EST morning of 2011.
This picture demonstrates the point. Look at her. All alone. Trailing. Alone. Confident that she's doing what makes sense for her and not following the crowd just to be part of the group. When interviewed pre-race about tactics, she's often quoted as saying, "I'm just going to run my own race."
And she did. Boy, did she.
I am inspired to be so focused. First, I want to have the confidence to actually do the research and have the faith in knowing what my own race is (no denial, honesty about my own abilities and how I'm likely to do best). And second, I want to have the courage to run my own race, regardless of what everyone else is doing.
At the risk of being annoyingly obvious -- I'm not just talking about running.
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