Thursday, July 18, 2013

Sport a Smile

As an athlete, my love and passion for running has grown over the past 3 years. It has been fostered by a multitude of experiences and by the many wonderful people I was fortunate to meet and connect with along the way. 

John Vincenzo Marie Leopold Randazzo, if it wasn't for him, I would not be running. I signed up for cross country the summer before 9th grade, not knowing what I was in for. I went to my first day of practice wearing a pair of worn out basketball shoes. And yes, John made sure we had proper footwear before we ran any distance. 

John has been my high school running coach for the past 3 years. He owns a successful construction company and coaches our cross country/ long distance track team at school. I have never seen him miss a day of practice. His dedication towards coaching athletes irrespective of what level they are at is admirable. 

The words of wisdom that he imparts are filled with insight for both running and life. 

John taught me that things don't just happen overnight. Hard work is the only formula, and there's no cheating when it comes to running. When you run, there's always the option to stop, or turn around early. You must learn to embrace hard and avoid easy. Before we begin our runs, John always lines us up on the starting line and says "Set...Enjoy!". In order to succeed, you need to enjoy what you do. 

Life begins outside your comfort zone.



Thanks to John, I'll be running to help children with the cleft birth defect sport a smile! 

Any donation will be appreciated, please click on the link below:




 


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