T-Bird and the Two-Mile

 

Parenthood is hard – really hard at times.  All we want to do is love our kids and have fun with them.  At times though we have to discipline a kid because of what might have happened, not for what did happen.  Other times we have to punish a kid because of what did happen, rather than what they intended to happen.  Sometimes we have to be strict because we need to teach them when we really just want to hug them and tell them it’s OK.  We do all that because our job is to prepare them for the future and to get them ready for their lives without us.

Sometimes we get to witness the payoff.

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My son, Travis is an example.  I’ve always loved the kid with all my heart but there were plenty of times when I knew that pampering him would only set him up for more and worse pain in the future.

Life doesn’t always back off when things start getting too tough.

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T was born with a minor physical defect.  His right knee was slightly bent to the side…so slightly that most people would never notice it.  We took him to a specialist to see if there was anything that we needed to do to help fix the problem.  The doctor said there wasn’t much he could do and that we risked making the problem worse in the process.

That’s not too bad, except for one thing.  T-Bird, as we often called him in those days, had grown up watching his big brothers run.  Our oldest two sons, Scotty and J.B., had made a reputation for themselves as distance runners.  As junior high students, they once finished running a mile just before the high school milers were about to start one.  Trying to encourage the prep-schoolers, the coach yelled for Scotty and J.B. to race them.

J.B. protested, “But Coach, we just finished running a mile.”

The coach replied quietly, “Don’t worry, you’ll win.”

They did.  The two went on over the next few years to claim every distance record over 400 meters (¼ mile) at our school, except for the 3200 meter race (two-miles).

T-bird was determined to be a star runner just like his older brothers and claim the only distance record the family didn’t have…the grueling two-mile.

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The doc shrugged his shoulders as he said, “He’ll be able to walk but I don’t know if he will be able to run very well.”

What’s a parent to do; discourage a kid from doing what he loves or encourage him to try at something he might fail at?  Sometimes there is no easy answer, so we decided to let Travis decide what he wanted to do.

Of course, you know what he chose.

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T had pretty good success his seventh grade year.  His determination really paid off.

Then came his eighth grade season.

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Younger brother Andy has always been an athletic prodigy.  Anything he tried, he succeeded at.  Worse yet (for T.J.’s feelings at least) he was physically more mature than his 13 month older brothers.  Add to that the fact that T suffered from allergies that made it difficult to breathe easily and you have a stacked deck.  One evening I found Travis huddled on his bed in deep despair.

I sat down beside the bed and talked to my son.  We discussed T’s determination and about the differences in the boys’ physical maturity.  I promised him, if he stuck it out, it would eventually pay off.  He would be a champion.  But it would take work.

For once in my life I was right.

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Travis worked hard, running even in the off-season.  He started winning and eventually broke that two-mile record…multiple times.  Besides that, he was on the 4×800 team (with brothers Andy and [twin brother] Bobby and friend, Chad Hudson) that placed fourth at state, destroying the school record in the process.

But wait a minute; I jumped right past one of the best stories of Travis’s running career.

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One of T-Bird’s goals was to be the youngest of our six sons to qualify for the Missouri State Track & Field Championships.  More than that, he was determined to medal at the prestigious event.

Lofty goals require our best efforts.

To achieve that goal he would have to qualify by finishing first or second at our district championship meet, where he must face some impressive talent, including an athlete from England who had come to the U.S. to run for The Principia, a private high school.

It was clear from the beginning of the event that the race was between T and the youth from The Principia.  At the gun the pair pulled away from the pack and gained significant separation.

In one of the later laps the coach from The Principia saw the potential for Travis to actually defeat his runner so he yelled for his youth to surge.  The athlete kicked it into high gear and pulled away from my son.  But Travis has something besides determination and a will to win.

He has a brain.

Runners every year push themselves too hard and, although they may get the lead, they put out too much effort too soon and run out of juice.  Then slower runners pass them and win the race.  Remember, T had set his heart on qualifying to compete at state.  Rather than risk running out of energy and getting passed by even one person, he maintained his pace and finished second, qualifying him to compete at the state meet, where he medaled…the youngest of our sons to do so.

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But Travis had already set loftier goals.  He took a little time off after the state meet, then went right back to training.  Rain or shine, T Bird went on a training run, virtually every day.  He dominated the two-mile event that year.

When the district championship rolled around, The Principia sent the same athlete to face T.  For the first four circuits the boys were again basically side-by-side.  The Principia’s coach yelled for his runner to surge just like the year before.  The boy did, pulling nearly 100 meters ahead of Travis.

Was it going to work again?

T had a plan.  He knew that a sprint takes a lot out of a runner.  In fact, he was banking on it.

My son picked up his pace enough that he gradually caught up to his opponent.  The Principia’s coach again commanded his runner to surge.  The youth did, but not as fast and not as far.  Travis again caught up.  Next lap, the coach yelled again and the runner from The Principia did it.  Travis caught him within seconds.  The final lap the coach tried the failing strategy one more time and, well, his poor athlete tried to, but barely gained anything.  T caught up with him almost immediately.

Travis was right behind his opponent as they came around the final curve.  T sling-shotted around beside him and kicked it into high gear.  The kid from The Principia tried to respond, but just didn’t have enough gas left.  Travis pulled away for the win and the district championship.

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My son’s enthusiasm and determination continued to pay off.  One year he placed second in the whole United States in the steeplechase at the American Athletic Union Junior Olympics.  Another year, he broke the Missouri state record in a race for his age category.

Last time I checked that record still stood.

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Am I proud of my son?  Absolutely.  I’d be lying if I told you otherwise.  More than that, I’d be lying worse if I told you that it’s what I’m MOST satisfied with him for.  What I’m most proud of is what he’s done with everything he learned from his running experience.

You see, T is a husband and father.  He uses that same determination that served him in track to be the best at both of those that he can.  When everybody is happy and well-behaved, Travis is right in the middle of all the fun.  However, when the kids misbehave, T is willing to stop having fun and see to it that the youngsters understand what they are doing wrong.  When that is accomplished, it’s right back to the fun.

There is more but I think you get the idea.  I guess you could say, Travis is still a winner, but this time it’s in the game of life.

We’re still rooting for you T Bird!  Keep giving it all you’ve got!

 

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(above) The photo from the newspaper when he broke the school record (again) and won the district championship.  Just to be clear, the boy right behind T is the only one who was on the same lap.  Everybody else had been lapped at least once.

(below) Travis helping his brother, Andy, warm up before Andy competed in the AAU Junior Olympics.  That gives you a little idea what an unselfish kid he is.  By the way, Andy medalled that year.  The next year, they both competed and they both medalled.  Travis was second in the nation.

 

(above) One of Travis’s indoor mile races from college, when he ran for SEMO.  He’s the one in the red outfit.  You’ll see he takes an early lead and never falls back farther than third.  Another runner takes over the lead just before the end, and T slingshots around to take the win.  You can really see in this clip how beautiful his running form is.

(below) I thought some of my readers might like to get a better view of the quote from Theodore Roosevelt that I included in this photo of T.