Running With a Torn Hamstring

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semifinal. He had trained for years, overcome multiple surgeries, and finally made it to the biggest stage in the world. When the gun fired, he exploded off the blocks. Then, halfway down the backstretch, his right hamstring snapped.

Redmond crumpled to the track. Medical staff rushed toward him with a stretcher. But Derek Redmond did something no one expected — he stood up. Grimacing, hobbling, tears streaming down his face, he began to hop toward the finish line. Sixty-five thousand spectators rose to their feet.

Then a large man pushed past security and ran onto the track. It was Jim Redmond, Derek's father. He wrapped his arm around his son's shoulder and said, "We're going to finish this together." And they did — father and son crossing the line as the stadium wept.

The writer of Hebrews tells us to "run with endurance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1). But notice — courage is not the absence of pain. Derek Redmond's hamstring was still torn. He still wept with every step. Courage was choosing to keep going anyway.

And here is the gospel in that moment: when our legs give out, our Heavenly Father does not watch from the stands. He rushes onto the track. He puts His arm around us. And He whispers, "We will finish this together."

You are never limping alone.