Race Coverage

A True Legacy of Winning Ways...

Thursday, 08 December 2016 23:10

By Ruth Brennan Morrey (ruthbrennanmorrey.com - posted Dec. 1, 2016)

Two years ago to the day of Ironman Arizona, I put my PhD to good use as a counselor at an Inheritance of Hope (IOH) Legacy Retreat in New York City. IOH is a nonprofit organization that serves young families who have a parent facing a terminal illness. Retreats help shape a legacy and create lasting, unforgettable memories for families. It is an experience that changes everyone, sick or not sick, families or counselors. Retreats provide humbling lessons on perspective taking, recognition of life treasures, and intentionality with our children. We shouldn’t wait until we are sick to start doing these things—I remind myself of this daily and can always be better. So, it was IOH’s influence that led me to make a decision to spend a little extra money to coordinate a special trip for my 9-year old daughter, Shea, to watch her mom race Ironman Arizona on November 20th....

Shea witnessed her mom go through a bumpy year—a bad bike crash with deep skin abrasions and elbow repairs, a freak back injury, personal ups/downs, and a slashed race calendar. She worried, I reassured. “Are you going to crash again?” “Are you going to be safe this time?” “Why can’t you just ride on your trainer?” The questions were difficult to answer staring into her caring eyes, and to be honest, they made me a bit apprehensive to get back out on my bike. The consistent lesson this season through it all—when you fall, you get back up. Submit, learn, and keep moving forward. The magic exists in the struggle. Press on and be courageous, little Shea. As we know, saying it and seeing it yield entirely different outcomes—hearing it is often ignored, but seeing it gets tucked away in her little back pocket for her own future use. If all went to plan, Ironman Arizona would be a tangible lesson of determination, fortitude, and resilience. Flights made, bags packed, it was full steam ahead for living IOH’s mission of intentionality and legacy formation.

With timely and uncanny coincidence, my church’s sermon (just last weekend), discussed this quote by John Maxwell:

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