Do you remember that scene? Summer camp counselor Bill Murray befriends Ruddy, the dorky middle-school boy who doesn’t fit in and doesn’t want to be at camp. At the end of the film, the “poor-kid” camp competes in a multi-day athletic competition against the “rich-kid” camp across the lake. The poor-kid camp always loses. But, this year could be different if Ruddy can "run like a rabbit" in a cross-country race that takes them through the woods. Hence, my motivation for the Griffin 5K.
But, in his wacky way, Bill Murray gathers the campers the night before the final race and delivers his Vince Lombardi motivational speech with the conclusion that, win or lose, it just doesn’t matter. Murray beats the stone hearth with a log as the room erupts with the repetitive, "It just doesn’t matter!"
My daughter, Carly, and I adopted that motto for the 5K. All we wanted to do was run our best race. Our goal was to finish the race. Winning or losing just didn’t matter.
Sometimes, I’d like to tell my fellow parents of student-athletes (including reminding myself) that, in the scope of things, winning or losing the competition just doesn’t matter. As a parent, and from my own memories as a student-athlete, I know this to be true.
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