“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”

-Calvin Coolidge

I’m proud of my son. There he is up there in the middle of all those kids with his running face on, ready to win. This morning we woke up and he didn’t want to participate in the 2011 Windsor Hill Hawk Trot. He didn’t want to get up early on a Saturday only to run and get sweaty, but him and his sister are part of their school’s running club and they had agreed to run in this race beforehand. I told him that you can’t break a commitment like this just because your not “feeling it”. He reluctantly got on his running shoes and headed over to the race. Soon after we arrived, he started to get excited about the event.

I patiently awaited with my camera up to my eye at the starting line for the race to begin. I snapped a few shots and seconds after this shot above, there was a pile up. The kids in the back trampled over some of the kids in the front, and poor little Kegan was on the ground with a bloody skinned knee. I quickly ran over and scooped him up and brought him to the first aid table. When a young kid starts to see their own blood, it’s never a pleasant experience. I got him bandaged up and his sister, who had just finished her age group’s race, was kind enough to offer up her medal that she received for completing her race. He wasn’t happy about it though – he wanted to earn his own medal.

I told him that even though he wouldn’t win, he could still finish the race. I told him I would do it with him for support and he limped on over to the starting line.

By the time we got to the finish line, Kegan was able to sprint over it (because they were about to take down the clock). His official time was 26:10, which is including the time he spent at first aid. I think he did fantastic. He turned his attitude around from not wanting to even run the race, to getting back up after being knocked down and finishing the job. During the award ceremony, he was presented with his own medal, and he was proud to wear it.