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 waited four years for this moment after an Achilles injury forced him out of Seoul in 1988. The gun fired, and Redmond burst off the blocks with everything he had.

Then, halfway down the backstretch, his hamstring snapped. He crumpled to the track as sixty-five thousand spectators gasped. The other runners crossed the finish line without him. Medical staff rushed toward him with a stretcher. But Redmond stood up. Weeping, he began hopping toward the finish line on one leg.

Then something remarkable happened. 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 waist and whispered, "We're going to finish this together." And they did. Father and son crossed that finish line while the entire stadium rose to its feet.

The writer of Hebrews tells us to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us." But notice — the passage never promises we will run it alone. When our strength fails, when the injury comes, when every voice says to quit, our Heavenly Father meets us on the track. He wraps His arm around us and whispers the same ancient promise: We will finish this together.

You were never meant to run alone.