When I was young, I was in youth track and cross country and was able to rank nationally, and post 4 straight years without losing and all in first place, and I was lucky enough to find something I was good at early in my career. life. I didn’t realize at the time when people would come and want to meet me and tell me how much they enjoyed watching me race and win. Today I understand, since it is an innate sense that we have to watch others, especially the underdogs, overcome and win. Maybe why the Rocky series movies were so popular and why people like movies like The Karate Kid.

I recently saw a very inspiring YouTube video about a young athlete. A seventh grade cross country runner who beat out all the tall girls at the state championships, her name is Grace Ping. You may want to watch the following videos for yourself:

1). “Grace Ping [GP]7th grader knocks down ENTIRE 2015 Roy Griak High School field” on the FloTrack channel.

2). “GP not authorized to compete on NXN” on the MileSplit channel

3). “GP After Racing Pro 3K at UW Indoor” on the MileSplit channel

4). “GP Story” Sean Tehan Channel

5). “GP – Athlete of the Week” Chris Barriere Channel

One commenter wrote: “Why am I watching this video? I’m not even on track let alone athletic.”

My answer was simple: “Because you love a person with that level of spirit and will to win. We all do.”

You see, it makes us feel alive, it makes us smile and see someone go above and beyond, go the distance, defy the odds and win. Americans will always hold those values, and they will hold a special place in our hearts for those who remind us of what we are capable of. As it turns out, super cross-country runner Grace isn’t just an anomaly, she’s also a cross-country skier, and those long ski-training efforts helped her develop strong cardio, will, determination, high pain threshold, and even steal legs. for a 13 year old boy.

It’s amazing what the human body is capable of, and yes, he obviously has good running genetics, but it’s more than that, it’s his intense training, training that’s transferable from skiing to running. Interestingly, most abilities are transferable, especially the human trait of perseverance. She has it, and well, so do you. She has found her inner “winner of hers” and maybe it’s time you found yours too. Please consider all this and think about it.