Back in 2015, I met Harvey Lewis. He was a pacer at the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon in Lexington, Kentucky. Little did I know at the time, I was meeting a man who'd years later run the equivalent of 27 half marathons in just 3 1/2 days...
This past weekend, Harvey lined up with some of the best athletes in the world at Big Dogs Back Yard Ultra Marathon. The format for the race is this: Every hour, every runner in the race comes to the starting line. Then, every runner attempts to run 4.1 miles over the course of the next hour. Those who finish in time get to come to the starting line again at the top of the next hour. Those who don't - they lose. This process repeats until everyone is a loser but the last man or woman standing. When it was all said and done, Harvey set a world record after lining up 85 consecutive hours and completing those 4.1 miles. From this past Saturday morning until Tuesday evening, every hour on the hour, Harvey lined up and completed 4.1 miles until he had run 354 miles. I wasn't surprised by the result. I've watched Harvey over the last several years take down one incredible endurance event after another. I'm not sure there's an athlete in the world in better condition than Harvey is at this moment in time. I'm hardly an expert on that, but his resume the last two years is pretty compelling evidence. Now, I'm not here to name drop Harvey Lewis. We're hardly best friends. But that's the point, really. From the moment I met Harvey years ago, from a distance, I've followed his journey in awe. In doing so, I've never once thought, 'I want to do what Harvey does.' But by following Harvey, many times I HAVE thought, 'I want to see how much more I can do.' I told someone the other day, Harvey is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He is a model of kindness. Kindness, that is, when it comes to how he interacts with other people. When it comes to how Harvey treats Harvey - he is ruthless. He is ruthless with his expectations. He is ruthless with what he demands of the talents and gifts he's been blessed with in life. He is ruthless with the number of times he's willing to tell himself you WILL be the last man standing. He has somehow willed his mind and body to tremble at the sound of that command. Harvey was recently featured in Sports Illustrated magazine in the Faces In The Crowd section. This section highlights athletes who don't rise to the 'star' status of athletes traditionally featured in the magazine, but who are nonetheless stars. I thought that was an appropriate place for Harvey. It's true, on the grand stage of world class athletes, I guess Harvey IS just a face in the crowd. But for many of us, it's a face that's had a huge impact. Many of us have been picking that face out of a crowd for years as a way of training our own bodies and minds to quiver when we say, you WILL be the last man or woman standing. Many days, Harvey has had a huge influence on my will to keep standing. It's also a reminder of this: there are people picking YOUR face out of a crowd today. People who would hardly call you their best friend, but who are watching your every move as if you are. People who are not watching and saying they want to do what you do, but people who are inspired by you to do all that THEY can do. You are more than a face in the crowd. Every one of you. Every single one of you is in life's FACES IN THE CROWD feature section. Your kids are picking you out. Your partner is picking you out. People you work with are picking you out. Complete strangers are picking you out of the crowd as they battle to be the last person standing. Keep that in mind today. Be someone's reason to be the last one standing. Because I assure you, it's because of people like Harvey, and people like many of you, I WILL be the last man standing. I WILL grow more ruthless of what I demand of me every single day. And just like you, I will be more than a face in the crowd.
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Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
February 2025
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