As a kid in school, I was not particularly athletic. The most athletic extracurricular I participated in was marching band—and while that’s more athletic than you might think, since you’re both moving and controlling your breathing, it doesn’t require the same kind of hand-eye coordination or raw speed as many other sports.
I also didn’t particularly fit in with the athletic group of folks. None of them were ever mean to me—they just weren’t my group, probably because I was never that coordinated.
I discovered in my senior year that there was something athletic in which I had some potential: running. I saved my P.E. credit until my senior year, and we did a six-week unit on running in the spring. Being a healthy, 17-year-old guy with long legs, at the end of the unit I challenged myself to run the complete mile without walking or stopping. I managed a 6:04, and my gym teacher came up to me and asked if I’d ever considered cross-country or track.
“No,” I replied. It was honest.
Being Seen
My P.E. teacher that year was one of the football coaches. Even though it was the spring of my senior year, he couldn’t help but see potential in me. That’s something I remember nearly 30 years later.
It’s amazing what a difference a great teacher can make in your life. In middle school, I’d had a terrible P.E. experience—that’s why I saved it until my senior year in high school.
I try to live life without any regrets, but I do wish I’d given that teacher a chance a little earlier. That one interaction repainted my relationship with school and athletics. It gave me confidence in something I never thought I had much potential in.
Running Today
Today, I’ve run dozens of 10Ks, a handful of half-marathons, a few sprint triathlons, an Olympic-distance triathlon, and a marathon. In fact, I’ll be running the Grand Rapids Marathon on October 18. I rediscovered running in my late 30s and adopted it as my primary exercise. The time on the run is great time to think.
This new challenge—running for Allendale’s Board of Education—I take on in part for those teachers who helped me throughout high school. Teachers who helped me when I didn’t understand, teachers who encouraged me when I was ahead, and especially teachers who stepped in to help my classmates when they were struggling.
I can’t pay back the teachers I had in public education who helped shape what my life is today. Instead, I am challenged to pave the way for today’s teachers to provide that same support to today’s students in a world that looks different from the one I grew up in.
I hope you’ll join me and vote to help me do just that.