Track is Love
June 12th, 2023
Most of what we see and hear on a daily basis from any number of news media, entertainment media and general conversation is how people hate each other. There are racial divisions, class divisions, political divisions. We are all divided. We are all destined or doomed to fight each other.
But, why? Why are we supposed to hate? Why are we supposed to be divided? Moreover, is this even true?
This past week and weekend I had the opportunity to spend 4 days watching the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Many things struck me as interesting, joyful and fun. Super fast men's 100 meters anyone? University of Texas women’s 4 x 100 relay? Record breaking Triple Jumps? A walk off discus throw for the NCAA title? There was a lot of great running and jumping and throwing to be excited about it.
But, that’s not what stuck out to me the most. Sitting in the stands on the home stretch, lower level, upper level, on the back stretch pole vault side and triple jump side, what stuck out to me was not the great performances. It was love.
Looking around, I saw black people, white people, brown people, Americans, non Americans, rural, city and people from all regions of the country. I saw old people, young people, middle aged people, men and women. I saw gay, straight, indifferent and probably some in between.
What I didn’t see was hate or division. Not amongst all these factions. Not amongst teams. Not anywhere. I saw a whole lot of love and a whole lot of support for the athletes though. I saw people whom, according to what we are told should be hating each other, laughing and talking and catching up. I saw old men and young men of all stripes reconnecting with old friends. I saw the same for women. There weren’t whole clusters by race or by school or much else that I could see. It felt like one big family reunion where there are some different people but at the end of it, it’s still a family and they had a lot of love to go around and track was their common bond, always and forever.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this. I’ve seen it in Eugene. In Austin. I’ve seen it in small towns across Texas. And if you’ve never been to the Penn Relays, that’s a stadium full of love.
My take away from this weekend is don’t let people with ulterior motives divide us. There is a lot of love out there. We just need to do some running to find it.
To paraphrase Elle Woods, running produces endorphins. Endorphins make people happy. Happy people don’t kill people.
So, go for a run today. Say hi to your neighbor as you run by. And, support track and field. You’ll find all the love you need.