Opinion

Disabled marathoner an inspiration to all

Posted October 27, 2013 5:00 am

On Oct. 13, I completed my fifth consecutive Chicago Marathon. My times were 4:05, 4:09, 3:54, 3:43 and 4:21. Not bad, but nothing to really brag about either. I was really bummed out about how my 2013 marathon went.

Then I saw on NBC the story of Maickel Melamed’s 2013 Chicago Marathon. He’s the 38-year-old man from Caracas, Venezuela, who has muscular dystrophy. Maickel finished his marathon in 16:46, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on the next day. Can you imagine the effort it took him to do this? It brought tears to me and made me feel ashamed about how bad I felt physically and mentally about my worst marathon finish.

When Maickel Melamed finished his marathon he was quoted as saying. “How I feel, a little bit tired after 16 hours of a really great effort.”

He then said: “If you dream it, make it happen, because your life is the most beautiful thing that could happen to you! So make the best of it and share it. The best of it, because we come here to share.”

I think these are words to live by.

Ron Seeberger

Palatine

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