I joined up with Queen Spar downtown for the Cabbagetown Boxing fundraiser 4km Fun Run and waited for my crew from PBB to meet up with me. It was a chilly morning, much colder than anticipated, so I had loaded up on the layers and had a double long espresso in hand. I had organized a small crew, mainly consisting of boxers that I train, to join me on the run and so I waited for them to come collect their stuff -- shirt and racing bib.
I had told my crew before hand that I wasn't going to actually run this, telling them that I get way too competitive, downright intense and sometimes borderline nasty when I compete. I'm a professional athlete, it's in my blood to make everything a competition. I thrive off that stuff. Just the other day, after doing a full leg workout at System, I jumped on the treadmill for a light jog so that I could simply loosen up my legs. Well, the guy next to me ended up looking at my treadmill and upping his speed to go faster than mine. And just like that, competition was on. My "light, short" jog turned into a full fledge sprint at one point and what was only suppose to be 10 minutes got pushed to 25 minutes because I didn't want him to run faster than me nor longer than me.
So ya, today's run was not a competitive run for me. I was there simply to encourage and cheer on my crew as they ran. I had told them that I'd run with whomever was beside me at the starting line and that's exactly what I did.
Running down Yonge Street, one of the busiest streets in Toronto, was pretty epic. It was blocked off and lined with pedestrians all waiting to watch the St. Patty's Day parade so they cheered as we ran by. Running down Yonge Street was pretty awesome, definitely, but what was inspiring for me was turning and seeing the head coach, Johnny, from Cabbagetown Boxing running with a crew of his boxers. I don't know how old Coach Johnny is but he's getting up there in years. Today is his day off and yet not only had he showed up to support his boxers but he was also running alongside them. "Now that is a real coach", I told myself. I was so impressed with him and it got me thinking about whether or not I'm such a role model and active supporter to those I train like he is.
When I crossed the finish line I ran back some distance to search out Ginger Spice. She had impressed the socks off of me with her burst of energy at the starting line so I wanted to see how she was doing. I spotted her just as she was turning around Yonge Street onto Queen so I ran up alongside her to cheer her on. Queen Spar ended up running up to us and running on the other side of Ginger Spice. The crowd of spectators cheered for Ginger Spice as Queen Spar and I ran on either side of her, encouraging her on and telling her to keep up the awesome work. She had broken down and started to cry. I knew she was in pain but I was sure that the feeling of pride she'd get once she crossed the finish line would make her feel like a million bucks. Both Queen Spar and I stopped a bit before the finish line and stood and watched as she in all her glory, pain and pride crossed it. I then ran up to her. She sat down on the ground with tears streaming down her face and I felt so proud of her. She had successfully done something that just a month or so ago was convinced she wouldn't be able to do. That moment was pretty epic.
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