Run Your Own Race

Coug was really upset.  All at once he yelled, “NO FAIR!  My sneakers came untied, and I had to tie them.  Bixie cheated!”

All the KidzAnimals looked at him.  They didn’t know what had happened during the race.  It did seem strange that a turtle could win against a cougar.  So, Coach Davis asked everyone to be quiet.

“Bixie did you see Coug having trouble along the way?” he asked.

Bixie answered that she hadn’t seen Coug anywhere along the race.  But she thought she had seen his blue sneakers in the branches of a shady apple tree.

Then Coach asked Coug. “Is that true?  Were you up in the branches of that tree?”

Coug realized that lying about what happened wasn’t going to work.  So he took a deep breath, looked up at Coach Davis, and answered.

“I guess what Bixie said is true,” Coug admitted. “I was really hot and sweaty.  Since I was so far ahead of her, I thought I could rest in that tree for just a few minutes.  Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep, and Bixie caught up and won.”

Hearing that, Coach Davis said, “Bixie, you won this race fair and square.  You deserve this first-place ribbon because of your hard work and your “can do” attitude.”

Then Coach looked at Coug.

“Coug, here’s the ribbon for second place,” he said. “I think you know that you didn’t run the best race that you could have run.”

He handed Coug the second-place ribbon.

Instead of being happy, Coug was very upset.

He wanted to throw that second-place ribbon to the ground and forget about the marathon.

Second place would have been fine if he had tried.

But because he hadn’t even tried, it didn’t feel like a reward.