The Race That Nobody Won and Everybody Remembers

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semifinal. He had trained for years, surviving five surgeries just to reach that starting line. When the gun fired, he exploded off the blocks. Then, halfway around the bend, his hamstring snapped.

Redmond crumpled to the track. Stretcher bearers moved toward him, but he waved them off. He stood up. He began to hop toward the finish line, his face twisted in agony. Sixty-five thousand people 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.

Derek Redmond did not win a medal that day. He did not even record an official time. But he gave the world a picture of something the Apostle Paul understood when he wrote, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Perseverance does not mean running pain-free. It means refusing to stay down. And here is the grace in it — we never hobble toward the finish alone. Our Heavenly Father runs onto the track, puts His arm around us, and whispers, "We will finish this together."

Whatever race you are limping through today, He is already beside you.