It was actually my wife’s goal to complete the Detroit Half Marathon today. I just joined her for the time it provided us alone for early morning and sunny Sunday afternoon walks together as we trained. As I ran, I kept thinking of the metaphor we often soothe ourselves with in education, that “it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.” It turns out that running such a race is a quite a fun, exhilarating and surprisingly has many parallels to public education.
In a marathon, there are thousands of participants, all starting at different times or places. In public education, students, schools, teachers, and districts are all at different stages in our journeys of improvement and change.
In a marathon, there is a momentum of the crowd which makes you move faster than you would in training and notice your pain less than if you were on your own. In school improvement, a collaborative staff moving as one towards a shared goal has the same effect.
In schools, “improved student outcomes” are the large, elusive finish lines that a marathon promises. We can’t forget to celebrate each pacing flag as we pass them (especially when we start in the last wave). Passing those smaller goals is as important in the journey as finishing the race.
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In a marathon, people actually drop gear that they no longer need, right on the road. Okay, this one’s not so similar because in schools we often keep everything and try to use it!
Education departments create complex calculations with over-simplified rankings that often mislead the public regarding the quality of education. Our goal was to finish this race in less than three hours, and we were so pleased to cross the line at 2 hours and 71 minutes. Data can always say what you want.
But just like in education, once you reach the end of your race that represents a goal achieved, a journey ended…your body aches, beaten up by functions you’re sure it wasn’t designed to perform, but your soul is renewed and you ironically start to think about your next race or student or improvement.
“I have run the race that was set before me…” Seems like that “mantra” for life’s race came from an Ancient One…It is breathtakingly renewing to SEE one Runner or Thousands of Runners, or Crop Walkers, or Susan Komen Run/Walk/Roll Supporters, just because each one SEES the activity as a goal-oriented exercise in life.
Congratulations, Dear Son and Daughter in Law; you have run the coarse with HONOR and DISTINCTION, and the RACE was entirely YOUR OWN! Just keep looking for the next race that is set before you–it may be named “TODAY”!