Why Run Now?
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Contact Me
  • Training
    • Races
  • Runs Near You
  • Runner's Needs
  • Blog: Words on the Run
  • Articles
  • WE RUN MIAMI

Rudy Garcia Tolson

8/5/2013

1 Comment

 
"The real disability is negative attitude!" -Rudy Garcia-Tolson
PictureMe: hey Rudy, I know it's been 11 years but do u remember... Rudy: ....I remember your face. I have a picture of us at my first race here in Miami. Me: [ear to eat smile]
 @Belen School Visit 2012

Read more about Rudy:
Ability magazine
Slowtwitch.com
FaceBOok
"Rudy Garcia-Tolson (born 1988) is a Paralympic swimmer, runner and triathlete from the USA. He was born with popliteal pterygium syndrome, resulting in a clubfoot, webbed fingers on both hands, a cleft lip and palate and the inability to straighten his legs. As a 5
year old wheelchair user, after 15 operations, he decided he would rather be a double amputee and walk with prosthetics. He had both legs removed above the knee."

It was a couple years later when he was around 12 years old that I had the pleasure of meeting him here in Miami. He came down with his family to talk to the Belen and Lourdes Cross-Country teams, speak at an event, and compete in the Mac Cycle Trilogy Sprint Triathlon in Key Biscayne.

Whether you have done Tri's before or not, I'm sure you can see what am impressive feat this is for a person to accomplish...let alone a child who was barely a teenager, and a double amputee. He swam the first part of the race and then his father pulled him up on his back and ran him over to the transition area where his dad biked for him and then I remember he put his prosthetic legs on and got ready for the 5k run, which is where my friend Barbie Ruiz and I jumped in. We were freshman in High School at the time, and  had so many things to complain about including a laundry list of things that were wrong with us (not to mention the world around us), yet here we were running with a kid about our age, who had every excuse to be upset, to not go out there and compete, and to complain---and he wasn't! We ran alongside him to encourage him and cheer for him without knowing that that experience would later serve as inspiration to not give up in times when the going got tough.

I often think of Rudy's attitude and smile, but one of the many things that he said that will probably stick with me until I lose my mind was his  answer to the question: "Why do you run?"
Without hesitating, he turned over and answered: "BECAUSE I CAN!"

I remind myself that at the end of the day:  Place in a race, time for a race or a run, or distance covere---NONE of it matters! We should all be out there running and living life to the fullest (to the point of exhaustion even), because WE CAN-in our own individual ways, and how lucky are we!

WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?
-Happy Running
1 Comment

    Author

    Teacher, Author, Mother, and Runner. As I try to balance it all, I sometimes ask myself why I run. The Ironic things is that the runs themselves hold all the answers.

    Picture

    I'm a Fan of:

    RSS Feed

    Run To The Finish
    Shut up + Run
    MommyRunFast.com

    Archives

    February 2018
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Categories

    All
    70.3
    Badwater Ultramarathon
    Believe
    Bridge Workout
    Chafing
    Don't Stop
    Escape To Miami
    Explain Running
    Fdc
    Fundraising
    Good Habits
    GrigioBikes
    Herbalife Challenge
    Injuries
    Ironmom
    Irun
    Long Run
    Love Of The Sport
    Miami Marathon
    Miami Triathlon Team
    Mommy Problems
    Mommy Runner
    Motivation
    Motivation Monday
    New Year
    Nike Women's Marathon
    Openwaterswim
    Peace Corps
    Post-Partum Running
    Race Outfits
    Races
    Rudy Garcia Tolson
    Run For Roots
    Run On The Go
    Run South Florida Magazine
    Self Image
    Self-image
    SoleRunners
    Synthetic Clothing
    #tbt
    Track Workout
    Travel
    Treading Water
    Tri
    Tri2one
    Tri Beach
    Tri-Beach
    Why Run Now
    Wings For Life
    Zach Sobiech

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.