When the Boston Marathon took place a few weeks back, in unseasonal sleety weather for April, it was the second place finisher who got my attention.

Sarah Sellers, a full-time nurse anesthetist from Utah, was unknown in running circles.  She was actually asked to introduce herself at the press conference after the race.  

She didn’t have much time to train for her second-ever marathon, so she ran at 4 a.m. or 8 p.m. before or after work.  She was pretty tired from her schedule at the hospital so she never really felt that great while running.  Something that seemed to help her out as she ran through sleet and rain at the Boston Marathon.

She was a runner in college but never reached her full potential because of a stress fracture in her foot.

I find it so powerful that she just did what she could and went out there to run her own race.  To earn her personal best.  And in the process, passed many more accomplished runners and came second.  Earning a $75,000 prize and a spot at the Olympic trials.

How many times do we judge ourselves before we even start running through life?  Thinking we aren’t as good as the others in the race?  Thinking we aren’t prepared enough?

As four-time Olympic medalist Summer Sanders said, “It’s not really about the competition. Your biggest challenge in a race is yourself. You’re often racing against time. You’re frequently running everything through your mind. You’re always competing against preconceived ideas. It’s not really the person next to you that you worry about.”

If only we could see that it’s not the person next to us.  We just need to compete against ourselves.

What could we accomplish if we got out there and started running?  We may end up winning the race.