A Race Well Run (a speech I gave last year)

As I share with you today about “A race well run,” I hope to inspire you to persevere no matter the odds that are against you. To do that, we are going to need to look at two things: A moment not soon forgotten in Sports History and the life of my brother, Gregory Dean Hannan.

THE MOMENT as described by ESPN
The stadium is packed with 65,000 fans, bracing themselves for one of sport's greatest and most exciting spectacles. The 400 meters. The race begins and Derek Redmond breaks from the pack and quickly seizes the lead. "Keep it up, keep it up," his father Jim says to himself, watching from the top the Olympic Stadium.

Down the backstretch, only 175 meters away from finishing, Redmond is a shoo-in to make the finals. Suddenly, he hears a pop in his right hamstring. He pulls up lame, as if he had been shot.

As the medical crew arrives with a stretcher, Redmond tells them, "No, there's no way I'm getting on that stretcher. I'm going to finish my race."

Then, in a moment that will live forever in the minds of millions, Redmond lifts himself to his feet, ever so slowly, and starts hobbling down the track. Suddenly, everyone realizes that Redmond isn't dropping out of the race by hobbling off to the side of the track. No, he is actually continuing on one leg. He's going to attempt to hobble his way to the finish line.

Slowly, the crowd, in total disbelief, rises and begins to roar. The roar gets louder and louder. One painful step at a time, each one a little slower and more painful than the one before, his face twisted with pain and tears, Redmond limps onward, and the crowd, many in tears, cheer him on.

Finally, with Derek refusing to surrender and painfully limping along the track, Jim reaches his son at the final curve, about 120 meters from the finish, and wraps his arm around his waist.
Together, arm in arm, father and son, with 65,000 people cheering, clapping and crying, finish the race, just as they vowed they would. Redmond heard the cheers, but he said "I wasn't doing it for the crowd. I was doing it for me. Whether people thought I was an idiot or a hero, I wanted to finish the race. I'm the one who has to live with it."

Derek Redmond ran his race well that day. Despite all odds being against him, he finished the race he started. He could have given up, and nobody would have blamed him. Instead, he pressed on towards the goal he had set before himself.

Each one of us is running our own race. The race of life. This race is different from the Olympic race though, because there is no defined finish line. Like the Olympians each of us has a different race to run: some may only run the 50 meter, some the 100 meter, still others the 400 meter and some may well run a marathon. No matter the length of the race, the important thing is that we finish well.

My brother, Gregory Dean Hannan, also ran his race well. Though it was a short race, 5 short years, he ran well, and finished even stronger. To better understand this race, some background information is required.

Greg was born on November 7, 1984, two months before his scheduled due date. Little is still known to this day about what exactly causes Cerebral Palsy even though it was first diagnosed in 1860 by a British Surgeon. Some possible causes are a shortage of air to the brain at birth, birth trauma, and premature birth. Greg was a preemie and it was thought that he had a shortage of air to the brain at birth. He would later be diagnosed with CP, specifically ‘spastic’ CP which deals with the motor skills. During his life, he wouldn’t be able to walk without the aid of braces. He also wouldn’t be able to form a whole word, let alone a complete sentence. His eating was limited to us spoon feeding him the food we had to grind up so he could swallow it.

Despite the odds being stacked against him, Greg was the most cheerful human being I have ever met. He couldn’t talk, but his eyes told the story. They spoke of courage, endurance, boldness, love and pure joy. To this day, I have never looked into someone’s eyes and felt the sincere love like I did from my brother. Like Derek Redmond the runner, Greg had every reason to give up. He had every reason to not be happy. After all, he was completely dependent on other people for the basics of life.

One of my fondest memories of my brother is when I would leave the house to go somewhere. Without fail, he would scoot himself over to the coat closet and pick out a coat for me to wear. I was too young to understand the magnitude of this action at the time, but looking back, I stand here amazed. Despite his less than desirable circumstances, he took his focus off of himself and instead shared his love with others.

There are two other memories I want to share with you that absolutely amaze me. My father, when he would tuck Greg in at night, would take his bear from him, saying “my bear.” Greg would take it back from him. This was a nightly ritual. Well, the night my brother would have his grandmal seizure, my dad was doing the game with the bear. Instead of Greg keeping the bear, that night, he gave it back to my father.

If that’s not amazing enough, just days before my brother passed away, my father was sitting in the hospital room with my brother. As my father sat there, Greg sat up, despite being hooked up to many machines and said to my dad, “thank you,” just as plain as I said it to you. Remember, he never really said an intelligible word his whole life. Once again, Greg would defy all odds. He finished his race well.

Why do I share these stories with you today? Is it because they are feel good stories? Is it simply to fulfill the requirements of this speech? Folks, as I look around the room, I see people who are more than just co-workers. No, I see friends and loved ones. Why do I share these stories with you today: To inspire you to persevere through life despite your circumstances. These two guys had everything stacked against them. Derek Redmond pulled a hamstring. You can’t possibly run with that injury. But he didn’t stop; he wouldn’t let this set him back. He pushed through. Greg couldn’t talk, couldn’t walk, and couldn’t really do much without the aid of someone. Yet he didn’t let any of that stop him. He loved people like no one I have met to this day. He had such an impact on people that at his Memorial Service there were over 500 people. It was standing room only. That doesn’t come from a life marked by giving up. It comes from the days when you hurt the most, but love others even more. It comes from pushing through personal pain to possibly bring joy to someone else.

What then does this mean to us here in this room? We probably won’t be on the Olympic stage like Derek Redmond and may not face the same challenges that Greg did. One thing that is for sure though, each one of us will be faced with trials. Whether it’s in your marriage, family, or workplace, we will all be presented with the opportunity to make a decision: to give up and quit, or press on despite the odds not being in our favor. I charge you next time you are faced with that situation to think of Derek and my brother Greg. They didn’t give up, they pushed through. Let their stories inspire you to run your race well.