Proof that humility still exists in sports

US sprinter Shawn Crawford gives silver medal to disqualified runner Churandy Martina

I'm absolutely blown away. To see that kind of sportsmanship, especially from a sprinter, who are typically thought of as some of the cockiest athletes, is incredible. I saw the race, and the disqualification of Martina was completely unfair, since he ran out of his lane on the outside (therefore actually running extra distance, not less) and not impeding anyone else. Crawford apparently said that he felt that the medal didn't belong to him, and that he was beaten fair and square by 2 other athletes. Regardless of whether the IOC officially awards the medal to Martina (there is a hearing scheduled for January 15), I think its pretty awesome to see something like that between fellow athletes, especially in this day and age when the top stories are about drug cheats.

Also, I suck at school and I have a cold that's sucking away what minimal motivation I do have. Running today was very unpleasant and I'm hoping that these freaking zinc cold drops that I spent $4.99 on will help me...they did before nationals, right? We also just got a boatload of snow dumped on Wisconsin so running outside kind of sucks right now...and I'm really regretting signing up for the Jingle Bell 10K especially since pulling an all-nighter Friday is the only way I'm going to catch up on the 11 online lectures I haven't looked at before my exam Sunday...sweet...

But on the bright side, all 4 of my recommenders got their PTCAS letters in! By Christmas break, all I'll have to do is sit and wait and wish for those acceptance letters to start rolling in...


I'm not terribly religious, but replace running on a beach with running in the snow and this pretty much sums up how I feel when I'm out there, alone, on a freezing winter day when no one but a crazy person would be outside and the snow just sparkles, and I can look back at my lone line of footprints stretching off into the distance and think about how far I've come.
"It's elevating and humbling at the same time. Running along a beach at sunrise with no other footprints in the sand, you realize the vastness of creation, your own insignificant space in the plan, how tiny you really are, your own creatureliness and how much you owe to the supreme body, the God that brought all this beauty and harmony into being."
- Sister Marion Irvine, 2:51 PR and 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier