Not everyone loves participating in a cross-country event but; all of the kids had been practising for the Phoenix zone event - since at least the start of this term. For this event, ‘practising’ can be regarded as
being different to ‘training’. While training involves targeting and lifting
fitness performance levels - practising does not.
Some kids have trained quite earnestly with an
expectation that they’re going to be there at the business end of their event;
some of those expectations are realistic; others are not.
Some are out there, having a go and even having
fun. Minor races develop between individuals; quick bursts of speed that occur
- usually when going past a teacher or track marshall - followed by a bit of
recovery walking and a quick yarn. And then that cycle starts again. (Many years
ago, a couple of lads who were mates from different parts of the province and
could really run; met up again on the start-line at the Southland Champs.
Oblivious to everything else around them, when the race started - so did their
conversation...and they kept it up - all the way to the finish line. And
beyond - despite not sprinting for a strong finish or even noticing the finish: they
still came in 10th and 11th in a field of 60+).
And there are other kids out there practising -
going through the motions mainly because they have to. We know that some of
them are not ‘having fun’ at all: they’d rather be back inside doing something
less personally confronting.
In many ways, these are the kids who can benefit
most from these experiences. These are often the individuals who don’t struggle
with literacy; maths makes sense to then straight off the bat. Unlike the
‘in-class strugglers’ they don’t have to really apply themselves to make
progress and gain success.
Because the cross-country stuff is challenging for
them; it is often one of their first opportunities to develop persistence. And
persistence is one of the major elements in succeeding in life. Thomas Edison
succeeded in inventing the lightbulb - just one of many successes. Tellingly
though, his lifetime ratio for inventions was one success for every four
hundred failures.
Persistence is what success looks like. You don’t
have to win; you just have to finish what you start.
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