Shopping in the Triathlon/Duathlon World Championship athlete’s village down under, I heard someone call my name. I turned and quickly recognized Bill, a fellow athlete I met a year prior at the National Championships in Texas. We both finished strong and qualified for TeamUSA Duathlon. I don’t recall how we were introduced but I remember the resulting moment vividly. What made Bill’s story remarkable is he shared with two of my fellow athletes he was dying from cancer. We were like wait, what??? This made his improbable winning performance even more astonishing.
We asked Bill if we could pray with him and he agreed. Here were these four middle aged athletes, heads bowed, arms intwined, offering up feeble pleas for healing. We chatted some more. Bill had a connection to Cleveland and we were able to introduce him to a world class oncologist at the Clinic where he and his wife would move back to.
Bill and I
In the village, Bill introduced me to his wife Amy. When she made the connection to the Texas prayers, she rushed me with tears in her eyes. All I knew to do was drop my gear and embrace as we both now cried. After a minute, Amy shared the life changes that occurred since that time. While not yet cured, Bill’s cancer in remission, he is able to travel to Australia and participate in the World Championships. Bill is getting great care and she herself took a job with the Cleveland Clinic. While life is normalizing, they told the struggle of being a patient, caregiver, access and experience. I shared an advanced copy of our patient experience book, "Diagnosed" which addresses some of their concerns.
While my race performance was bad, I am reminded (again) it matters not. What matters is taking action on what is on your heart to do.
I am reminded the words of Paul who wrote these words while tent making outside the Isthmian Games, the precursor to the modern Olympics
You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No lazy living for me! I’m stayingg alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.
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