The Old Lady Wins The Race
Vicki Murphy-Kendall's 60th
BirthdayOctober 2004Springfield High SchoolSpringfield, PA
My friend, Vicki Kooky Kendall, is turning 60 in a
week. We work together in a high school.
She is a teacher and I am the principal. One afternoon, she stopped by my
office.
“Hey, I want to ask you if I can do something. I haven’t mentioned it to the kids. I wanted to run it by you first.”
That opening statement is always a red flag for me. Something outrageous is about to be asked.
“Go ahead, give it to me”, I tell her.
“I want to challenge my homeroom students to a 10K race for
my birthday. OK, I may have mentioned it
to them and they thought it would be a great idea. We would do it at the beginning of the
day. I think it would take about an
hour. But the boys think they can beat
me. And I want to show them that this
old lady still has something in her. We
would meet at my house and run to school.
If we meet by 7, we could get here at 8 and then they wouldn’t miss too
much class. What do you think?” She bites her lip when she finishes.
“Yea, we could work something out. I think this would be a
great life lesson for them,” I respond.
She is surprised and relieved. “Good, I told them that I
didn’t think you would mind.”
We decided to limit the course to the neighborhood around the
school building so that the kids are not on any major roads. They would lap the campus six times. They would take off from school at 8 and get
back at 9 which is when homeroom starts.
We would invite the entire school to come out to the track to see the
final lap. The band had agreed to come
out and play some sort of victory song as Vicki finished the race.
The day before the race, I went on the school television and
announced that this was going to be the race of the generations. I talked about goal setting and never
surrendering to imposed limitations. I
talked about trying new things all your life.
I talked about my admiration of Vicki for taking on this audacious
challenge. Throughout the day, the
faculty commented on my speech. Not one
kid mentioned it so I can only assume not one kid bothered to listen.
On the day of the race, I interrupted classes and announced
that the race is about to begin. Some students
clapped as the runners walk down the hallways and out the door. And the race
began.
The boys started out as if they had been shot from a
cannon. Vicki and one girl, from our
cross country team, ran together in a slow steady pace. I went back to my office and opened the
blinds so I could see them as they lapped around the building.
The first lap was completed and then the second and the third. It was now the fourth lap and I saw Vicki and
the girl. They had a nice, even pace. I
could see them taking deep, strong breathes.
Then they were out of my sight. I
waited for the boys but they weren’t anywhere to be seen. A few more minutes passed and there was still
no sight of them. So I went out on the
street to look for them. They were
sitting on the corner, exhausted and defeated.
They saw me and muster up some energy.
They ran again but they are pathetic, absolutely pathetic. They were finished.
As they approach me, I held up my hand and stopped them.
“Wait, wait. You are a sorry bunch of losers,” I tell
them. “That old lady is beating
you. As a matter of fact, in a few
minutes, she is going to lap you. And
when that happens, you are going to be the laughing stock of the whole
school. You will never be able to come
back here ever again because we will all be laughing at you. This calls for immediately action. You must cheat. You have to cut through the building and just
go sit by the track gate. You can’t keep
up with her.”
They laugh in shame and relief. They all high-five me, thank me and run
through the building. A few minutes
later, they are at the finish point, laying on the grass, done with this
ridiculous challenge.
A few minutes later, the band is ready to go and the rest of
the students are filling in the bleachers.
Vicki enters the track and the boys get up on their feet and scramble to
start the victory lap. The band is
playing The Eye of the Tiger. The crowd is cheering. Vicki’s husband and daughter at at the finish
point with two dozen roses. Vicki falls
in to their arms and the crowd go wild. The old lady won the race.
