“What’s your name? Why were you following me?” the man asked him, trying to stand erect with the braces in his hand.
“Jacob.” The kid replied as he shuffled in his pocket & removed a set of medals. He was about 18-19 years of age, 6’ with medium build.
“Your name’s Ralph, right? I saw you dumping these in the river. You dumped a whole set of medals. These are national level standings. No normal person will win them.” Jacob said, showing the medals to the man, who was a teacher in the local school.
“Yeah. I found them today while cleaning the storage. They’re of no use to me now.” Ralph said.
Jacob looked at Ralph, with a surprise look in his eyes.
“You’re Jonathan’s kid, right?” Ralph asked, as he knew Jacob’s father Jonathan was a World-Famous, best all-round athlete ever been on this earth.
“Yeah. I know my short tempered, rude & abusive father is in jail for shooting the family of some guy named Christian Romanov, about 13 years ago. The whole village mocks me for being a murderer’s son. My mom has left me, the Government has confiscated all the wealth my dad had & now, I am living in an orphanage, working part time in a gas station.” Jacob replied with a sad look in his eyes.
Ralph felt pitied for the innocent kid.
“Would you train me for the Inter-State Athletics Competition?” Jacob asked, looking intently at Ralph, whom he thought to be the yesteryear’s famous & glorious runner. “Please don’t say no. I’ll try my best to win this competition. I believe….”
“Grow up kid. Go to school & get a qualified degree.” Ralph replied rudely.
“I am doing this because I want to be the best, I want to be better than I was yesterday. I want…”
Ralph neglected what he was saying & just limped away, without even looking back once.
But Jacob was reluctant. He wanted to become a champion, and according to him, no one but Ralph could train him.
Two days later, the school where Ralph taught had organized a sports event.
On the day of the competition, students and their parents from the school gathered in the ground, cheering for their colleagues & kids.
An ex-student of this school, Jacob believed his running skills. He used to practice daily on the local jogging track early mornings. Watching past videos of his dad, he had mastered himself in running. Every time he ran, he used his father’s jersey, with a big ‘J’ written on the back. However bad his father was for the world, Jacob still considered him an ideal for himself.
“And on track no 4, its Jacob Gonzales…!” Jacob came to his senses the moment he heard his name announced. He heard people murmuring in the crowds, possibly gossiping about his father.
As the starter got ready, the participants took their stance.
“On your marks…get…set….” The starter whistled loudly. At once Jacob plunged ahead, taking full advantage of his tall posture. With faster steps, he moved ahead of all opponents, as the audience cheered up for him. With his tall legs moving back & forth like the piston of a steam engine, he ran with amazing speed, & went way ahead of all the participants, winning the 100m sprint race with a record timing.
“And again, we have the winner…. Jacob Gonzales…!” all the spectators clapped their hands. Even though he was known as a murderer’s son, the village admired his running skills.
As Jacob went to the changing quarters, he was called to the staff room.
“By that type of run, you could only win school races my friend. Winning Inter-State is far from you.” Ralph said as Jacob entered the empty staff room. Almost every teacher was downstairs, enjoying the event.
“Your stance & startup are worse. You lose half of your energy in the start itself. And, who told you that shorter strides win races? They give you good speed, but will disturb your posture. Your core was shaking, your head was unstable. You were pushing too hard with your right leg, which caused you to slow down towards the end, because there was no power left in your one leg…! The real winner is not the one who increases his power towards the end, but the one who slows down the slowest…!”
Jacob was listening intently to what Ralph said. Indeed, he had missed out on such precise details.
“So, you’re gonna teach me now?” Jacob asked him.
Ralph hesitated for a moment.
Finally, he agreed.
“Tomorrow morning, 5’o clock. On the sea beach.”
The next morning, Ralph rode on his motorcycle & came to the beach. Jacob was already present, doing his warmup exercise.
“I’ll call you Jacob. And you call me sir. Cut that shit & start running. Finish 10 rounds till that boulder & back in 5 minutes. Start…!” Ralph immediately ordered. Jacob smiled and started his run.
“Remember, running on sand requires extra energy. It will improve your strength, build up your muscle co-ordination, and will increase your calorie burn. Focus on your movement. Keep your legs as free as you can.” Ralph screamed as every time Jacob zipped past through him.
After finishing 8 rounds in 20 minutes, Jacob collapsed in front of Ralph, panting and gasping for breath. Sweating profusely, his legs were shaking badly.
“Till you finish 10 rounds in 5 minutes on the soft sand, I am not going to teach you anything further…! Now continue running.” Ralph screamed on the boy.
The next morning, Ralph reached the sea beach, only to find Jacob already sprinting on the sand.
“Keep your core straight. Your chest & head should be in one line. Your eyes should only see the finishing line. Take advantage of your height & use longer strides.”
Ralph kept screaming on Jacob while he practiced.
“I told you the real winner is not the one who increases his power towards the end, but the one who slows down the slowest…! Don’t push too hard as soon as you start…! Let the energy build up in your legs & keep pushing forward with both your legs once you are halfway down the track. This will help you to maintain your energy towards the end.”
Jacob finished his 10th round after 15 minutes, a little earlier than he was yesterday.
At night, while he went to work at the filling station, his whole body was aching. He couldn’t stand up properly, but he had to work at the station for his living.
About 4-5 days later, as Jacob finished his training & went to his orphanage, the cook who handled the canteen came and told him that his diet will be taken care of.
“Someone named Ralph have informed us he’ll pay for your food & has given me a list. So, you’ll have only that food from now.”
Ralph observed a steady improvement in Jacob’s performance every single day. With more than 5 months still remaining for the competition, Jacob was totally focused on giving the best performance every time he ran.
Jacob’s orphanage had a small gym, so he found it easy to exercise in there. Ralph had also taught him the right exercises for his body.
A few days later, before their training started, Jacob said, “Switch on the timer. I’ll finish 10 rounds inside 5.” He said giving his stopwatch to Ralph. As Jacob started running, Ralph observed his speed & intensity. But somewhere, his feet were not moving back and forth in balance. Plus, he also observed strain on Jacob’s face, which was not a good sign.
“Yo man, you did good.” Ralph said as he stopped the watch at 4th minute. Jacob was standing by his side, panting and holding his leg. Ralph bent down & observed swelling on Jacob’s ankles.
“I knew that would happen, dude. When you run on sand, you need to balance your body properly while trying to push ahead. Your ankles & knees do a major part here. You need to balance yourself, maintain the direction and at the same time, try to gain more speed & endurance. If you manage all of these things on sand, remember, running on a hard court would be much easier. Go home, take rest & put an ice pack on the swelling. Tomorrow morning, same time.”
The next morning, Ralph explained the right way for a perfect start.
“When the whistle blows, push yourself up with your rear leg. Keep your core straight & stable. Use only your legs. Don’t move your front foot till your rear leg is straightened out. All of this happens withing a blink of a second, but your entire sprint run depends on this.”
That whole day, Jacob did nothing, but only focused on getting the right start.
Finally, after 10 long days of rigorous practice, Jacob finally got the start right. After that, Ralph trained him for a good posture.
“Remember, just the way a boxer trains his hands, you have to train your legs & your core. If you want to pick up speed, keep your core stable & your upper body erect. And this would be possible only if your core is strong. So, build up your abs & your legs.”
After more than a month of sprint running, Ralph instructed Jacob to do a 100m sprint run.
“What the hell is this?” Ralph screamed after Jacob clocked a time of 12 seconds. “You are still not achieving that posture. Don’t think it will be easy for you to win all the races in the competition. Even though you have won many Inter-School races, this one’s not easy. You need to put in your 200% in this race. Before you start running, loosen your legs. Your legs are longer, so take advantage of your body height. Now start again.”
After some days of continuous practice, slowly Jacob started improving. His sprint time came to 11 seconds. He had reduced weight, & his legs & core became strong.
With 2 months into the practice, Ralph observed that Jacob’s 100m sprint timing had reduced to almost 10 seconds. But still he was training intensely. He made Jacob run continuously for 4-5 hours, sweating everything out from him.
One day, Jacob got totally exhausted.
“It’s just an Inter-State Competition. I could easily win it. Why are you stressing me more for it?”
“Because I am not just looking at the competition, you idiot…!” Ralph answered back, “I want to make you a World Champion. To be a good athlete, you have to train for more than 16 hours a day…! Those people who represent our country have not reached there just by running 100m in less than 10 seconds. They sweat the shit out of their body. They become so because they know their potential, they know their abilities. They focus only on their performances, not on any medals.”
Ralph pulled out a photo Jacob’s family.
“Your dad is a murderer; your mom has gone away. Do you want to be called a kid of bad fate? Don’t think the World will help you. No one actually cares about you. People spend their entire life trying to find out what they are good at. When you know what you are good at, you don’t want to pursue it. This training is nothing compared to what you will be experiencing in future. Athletes train their entire life just for a few seconds of run. For the world, this is just a few seconds, but for them it is everything…! They skip family gatherings, festivals just for those few seconds. Without pain, nothing is achieved in life…!”
Since that day, Ralph stopped his training. Jacob trained himself for some days.
A few days later, Jacob met Ralph in the school staff room.
“I had participated in the Sprint competition hosted by the Village Committee.” Jacob told him, “Well, I won in it, but…” Jacob was silent for a moment.
“I screwed the timing. I clocked 11.5 seconds in 100m race. Its OK for a small event, but for a larger one like the Inter-State, I need a lesser time, around 10 seconds. I… let’s start training again. I’ll come tomorrow at 5:00 sharp.”
The next day onwards, Ralph again started training Jacob.
In the coming month, there was a qualifying competition for the Inter-State Tournament. Winners who secured the first place only would directly qualify for the Inter-state.
“You have the capability to win. Remember, all of your neighbors and friends will love you or will hate you. Either ways, it doesn’t matter. When you’re out there, you are on your own. Consider this as a best chance for you to test yourself.” Ralph raised Jacob’s confidence that day before training.
For the next few weeks, Jacob trained with full efforts & gave his 100% in all the running activities. Ralph had confidence in him, & he clearly knew that Jacob will easily win this tournament.
That said, Jacob easily won the tournament, clocking a record time of 10.5 seconds & 19.2 seconds in 100 & 200m runs respectively & directly got qualified for the Inter-State Tournament.
For the next 3 months, Jacob continued to train everyday.
Ralph observed Jacob had improved a lot more than he was in the beginning. His core had strengthened, his legs were strong & his posture was excellent. He knew how to use his energy in the right way to perform the best in every race.
Finally, the day of the Tournament arrived. It was hosted in the neighboring town, & the entire arena was jam-packed with audience. Many athletes from other villages had joined in the event. The top 3 would directly qualify for the training in the city for the upcoming championships.
Jacob’s orphanage had paid for his travel till the venue. Once inside the stadium, he searched for Ralph in the audience, but couldn’t locate him.
The qualifying rounds were about to begin. The first race was a 100m sprint race.
Jacob was wearing his dad’s jersey marked with a ‘J’ on the rear side.
“Ladies & Gentlemen, the first race is about to begin.” The commentator started announcing the names of the participants.
“And …on the last track, we have a newcomer…Jacob Gonzales…!” the whole crowd cheered as Jacob waved to all the people around.
As the starter instructed all the athletes to stand in line for the race, the crowd fell silent.
“On your marks…. Get…set…. go….!” As soon as the starter announced, Jacob sprinted at once, pushing himself up with his rear leg. Keeping his core straight, he ran with longer strides & erect posture. At the finishing line, Jacob was way ahead of all the contestants.
“So we have a new winner, Jacob Gonzales….!” The crowd cheered & clapped for Jacob, who very easily defeated all the novice runners clocking a time of 10.1 seconds, the fastest ever done in such a tournament.
Jacob then participated in the 200m run, and won that race also, clocking a record time of 19.0 seconds, again the fastest in such a tournament.
Jacob then qualified for the next round, which was again a 100m race. He finished that with a record time of 10.0 seconds, 2 milliseconds faster than the earlier race.
Finally, the last round came.
The first race was a 100m sprint race followed by 200m run.
“And on track no. 3, we have Richard Campbell….!” The audience loudly cheered as Richard; the reigning champion & the most popular amongst all the participants waved to all of them. He had belonged to the same school in which Ralph was teaching & had won every Inter-school games with a good clock time.
All the contestants took their stand.
The starter then signaled to the audience to stay quiet.
“On your marks…. ready….”
The gun fired.
At once all of them pounced ahead. Richard was the first one to charge, but Jacob was equally quick. With rapid & long strides, he moved ahead, crossing every participant by each step. Halfway down the race, Richard was leading, But Jacob was rapidly covering up.
As they approached the finishing line, Richard was in lead & Jacob was almost a half yard behind him.
At once, Jacob increased his pace, running exactly as he was taught, with his core straight & eyes towards the finish. With other participants glimpsing at each other while running, Jacob never looked anywhere even once. He kept running in the fastest pace, and finally reached the finishing line yards ahead of Richard.
“And the winner is…Jacob Gonzales…!” The crowd cheered loudly for the new winner.
After a short break, the next 200m final was scheduled.
The time came, and all participants took their positions.
The audience was cheering loudly again for Richard Campbell, as always, they knew he will be the winner in this race.
Jacob took his position, about 2 persons away on the track.
The audience fell silent as the starter raised his gun.
“Get…set….”
The gun fired.
At once all the participants dashed ahead. The audience cheered as Richard took the lead. Jacob was just half a step behind him. Compared to Richard, Jacob was much more composed, erect & perfect in almost everything.
Richard was not as tall as Jacob, but he was taking shorter strides and was using more energy on his knees, which was not the ideal way to run. His hands were moving much harder & his neck was much stiffer than it should be.
Jacob was running in his usual pace.
Halfway around the race, Richard was leading Jacob by almost a step. As the participants neared the finishing line, they increased their pace. Richard moved his legs rapidly with every step. However, Jacob kept moving at his usual pace.
And then, instantly, Jacob moved ahead. Pushing his legs, he just pounced ahead, again looking straight at the finishing line. Within just two seconds, he crossed Richard and was leading with every step. Finally, at the finishing line, Jacob again was almost a yard ahead of Richard, who had tried very hard to overtake his opponent, but couldn’t succeed at all.
The audience loudly cheered as the commentator announced that Jacob had won. While the entire arena stood up & applauded for him, Jacob again searched for Ralph, but he was nowhere to be found.
During the awards, Jacob stood on the podium holding a picture of Ralph, while the reporters from all the major newspapers snapped his photo.
After the medals ceremony, Sir Aaron had a word with Jacob.
“You did wonderful, son. After what you have suffered in the past, you came up nicely & showed that you are no less than a champion.” Giving an envelope to Jacob, Sir Aaron said, “I don’t know where Ralph is, but he gave you this letter.”
While seating in the dressing room, Jacob opened the letter given to him by Sir Aaron from Ralph. He sat down & started reading it.
“My wife had taught me to be good to everyone, even if that person is bad to you. You’re full of awesomeness, honesty, joy, happiness, so let that beam out from inside. Be the sunshine in everyone’s life. Do good to that person who has done bad to you, even if he is your foe. Because that’s what you are made of, mate. That’s what being the Real Hero is. A hero ain’t one who does things differently, but the one who does different things, way too different than a normal person. Be the hero, my friend, The Real Hero.”
A few Kilometers away, Ralph was listening the entire commentary on the radio inside a Bus Terminal.
13 years ago, he had lost his wife & daughter in the unfortunate shootout. Two bullets pierced his right knee, and doctors had operated it, forcing him to retire from running at a very early age. Once a world class runner who gave top competition to most of the World Champions, he lost the sport he had loved so much, his wife, his daughter & everything with it. After recovering, he changed his identity, shifted to this village and started teaching in a school, trying to forget everything of his past. Only Sir Aaron, the principal of the school in which he was teaching, knew about his true identity.
He wanted to get rid of the medals which he found while cleaning his wardrobe.
But Jacob found those and came to him.
He never wanted to come back to that past which he had left far behind, but when he saw the kid running in a competition, he agreed to coach him. Sir Aaron knew this, & told him to pursue what he intended to.
While training, he started liking the kid, and Jacob’s ambition had become his ambition. He was confident that Jacob can easily defeat any of those novice sprinters in the village.
Today, Ralph decided to leave the village. Jacob found his direction & soon he’ll join the capital to train further for World Championships & Olympics.
“My wife once told me the biggest gift a person can give to anyone is his knowledge. By heaven’s grace, I had lot of talent inside me, but rather than giving it, I decided to throw it away. For 13 long years I kept on running, trying to avoid giving all that I have. But that kid, that kid had such a good technique, that I decided to coach him. I decided to give him all that I have. It was all I wanted. Today, I’m leaving this village, because I wanted to stay away from all the publicity for training him. I never did this for any kind of honor. I did this because that’s what made me happy.”
As his bus arrived, Ralph took his luggage & got up. When the bus conductor honked the horn for departure, Ralph wiped his tears. He had only cried in sorrow for the past years, but today, he cried with a smile on his face.
Jacob came running in the Bus Terminal. He learned from Sir Aaron that his teacher was leaving for another village. He wanted to thank him once before he left, but by the time he reached, the bus had already left.
The next day, Jacob got a telegram. Expecting it from Ralph, he opened it, but it was from the Central jail, where his dad Jonathan was imprisoned.
Inside, he saw a clipping of his photo with the medals from the awards ceremony. There was a circle marked on Ralph’s pic which Jacob was holding.
And below it, was a note written by his dad:
“The person who trained you…his name is not Ralph…. he is Christian Romanov…!”
