The First Great Submission Competition
The time has come to give back to you, my lovely readers. Today sees the start of my first competition. All you need to do to enter is submit to the Hero Workshop website. That could be a Hero’s Journey, Camp Counselor’s Journey, Hero Profile, or Teacher Profile. You can submit on the journey or hero pages, in the comments of this post, or by emailing me. Your entries will be added to the Hero Workshop site and you will be credited with the submission. Remember, real life heroes are just as appreciated as fictional and famous ones – if not moreso. So if your mother is your hero, let me know about her.
The winner will recieve a $25 Border’s gift card, so if you’re not in America this is not for you unfortunately. Make sure that in your entry you let me know your email address. I will choose the winner randomly on February 14th and contact the lucky person that day to retrieve mailing information.
Entries must be at least 150 words long to be considered. You can enter as often as you like, as each entry will increase your chances of winning. If two people submit the same hero, only the first will be considered. I will be updating submissions every day.
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Hmmm, I like books.
I had just four school years with my hero. That is I had eight seasons (four track and four cross country), plus the summers in between when we had morning runs and when August arrived two-a-day practices. I ran countless miles for my hero and did everything he asked of me. In my last months of high school, I had the honor to serve under my hero. My hero is my cross country and track coach, Mike Stallsmith.
I wish it were otherwise, but I’m not a fast runner. I joined cross country because my brother loved it and I needed something to do, but I secretly hoped I’d never have to actually run a real race. Muddy and sore after my first practice as a freshman, I decided it was just too hard. Plus, Mike scared the hell out of me. I knew he was a tough, intense coach and I felt I could never amount to a good runner or someone worthy to be on his team. Mike had incredible relationships with the kids on his teams. I wanted to be like the older kids who Mike joked with and called on to be leaders for the team.
I finished my first 5km time trial three minutes after the second-to-last girl and a full ten minutes after the fastest guy. I was too tired to care. The first race I attempted to run, I didn’t finish. My diabetes had to adjust to running and so did I. On the second try, Mike stood next to the white line with 800m left to go and coached me through it. “How your head?” he asked. Mike was again next to the white line when I had 100m left. He was there yelling at me to kick it in just as he would be countless races later.
Mike taught me the technical stuff about running and racing. I learned how to get up hills quicker and lengthen my stride down hills. He broke the half mile down for me while I anxiously laced up my spikes during my freshman track season. He was always somewhere out on the course and eventually he came to be in my head during races so that I had him motivating me and guiding me even when he wasn’t there shouting splits out or anywhere nearby. I needed his wisdom and experience, which he gladly gave, during my junior year when I set my best times in cross country and the mile. I get chills remembering what it was like to hear his voice as I came out of the woods as he encouraged me and yelled for me to check out for ten seconds, which meant to pick up the pace and wake up! Even while my teammates were setting school records and qualifying for the State Meet, Mike managed to make me and others like me feel we were important and that our struggles were just as valuable.
It’s cheesy, but there were no slow people on our teams, there were the fastest, the fast, and the less fast. Those were Mike’s terms. Mike was so much more than a coach to all of us. He called everyone on their birthdays and never ever was too busy to talk if something was wrong or if we just wanted to chat. Mike was our protector when the mean soccer girls and dangerous lacrosse players had their balls flying off the field and onto our track during workouts. He fought the athletic department to let us go to the Spartan Invitational. Mike set his standards high and many of us were happy to meet them if it meant we could run for him.
After three years of participation, I earned varsity letters in cross country and track and got a captain’s star to sew into my red varsity jacket, but I never once ran in a varsity race. I’ll never forget when he met me on the track after a meet with the official ticker tape that showed my mile time the day I broke 7 minutes. I cried happy tears in his shoulder after screaming in shock. Mike helped me to see I could be a leader and valuable teammate without being a “stud” runner. I was shaking when I told him I wanted him to remember me when he chose the captains for my senior year because I thought I would be overlooked seeing as I wasn’t one of the fast, point-scoring girls. Mike chose me to be one of the captains and honored me to help lead his team. He never gave up on any of us, but showed us that we had to want to improve for ourselves. He is my hero because he helped me and many others find our inner strengths. Mike never stopped supporting and dedicating his time to us. Mike not only memorized our mile splits, he also fostered our growing as teammates and leaders.