Last week the
Beirut
Marathon Association organized a
youth
race in which thousands of children and youth participated. A number of our boys were kindly invited by
SKILD, a local learning center, to
participate. I supervised the outing and had a very straightforward mission: Get 19 boys to the race through a 5K course and backsafely to Dar El Awlad. Technically I failed the mission. Halfway through I received a call informing me that a one of my boys was being taken to lost-and-found. He registered a DNF (Did Not Finish). It wasn’t a surprise; before I even arrived
at the starting line I had received a call requesting me to retrieve the same child
after he reported himself lost to event staff. I did
get him, but obviously couldn’t keep him.
I may have failed the mission, but the experience was by no
means a failure. Lebanon is going
through difficult times and events like this are powerful demonstrations of
symbolic and practical encouragement for positive movements. The
race was intended to generate support and awareness for special needs kids, and
for our special children it was a great day to be in Beirut. Whether they ran, walked, or were escorted to
the lost and found, they all had a wonderful time participating in a
meaningful initiative. And all returned home safely!
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| This is definitely the pack I want to run with. |
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| An official photo featured in a national newspaper. You can spot two of my boyse in the bottom-right corner |
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| You'll never walk alone |
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| We took our time, but we made it to the finish line |
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| There were only 15 boys waiting for me at the Reunion Point (aka lost and found). |
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| The triumphant post-race pic. Can you guess which boy registered the DNF? |
