Bill and Ed's Excellent Adventure

The picture floated across my screen. I was in my daily “clean out my inbox” mode where 94% of the brain goes to sleep, eyes glaze over slightly, and the delete button gets tired out. You know that mode – you might even be in that trance as you encounter this piece.

Well, this was one of those moments where something grabs at your heart and flings you out of the “clean out my inbox” mode back into sweet reality.

Here is the picture, sent to me by my momma.

The setting is the 125^th Boston Marathon, which took place on Indigenous Peoples Day this Monday. Usually set in mid-April, this was a unique moment for the race to highlight Indigenous runners. This race, possibly the most famous running event in the world, had told elite Native American runners in previous decades that they were not welcome to run at the Boston Marathon.

Bill and Ed, seen in this picture, ran the 26.2 miles as a duo.

Bill is blind, and Ed served as his guide.

Both are from my hometown running club, the Howard County Striders outside of Baltimore, MD.

Soak in that picture one more time.

I still cannot decide whose feet/feat I am more impressed with. 

Bill having the trust in someone else to guide them over 26 miles of terrain, amidst 30,000 runners? 

Or Ed having the ability to focus for hours upon hours to be the guide?

I know that the question is irrelevant.

The bond between these two, something much stronger and deeper than Bill’s hand laid upon Ed’s wrist screams at us, coaxing tear ducts into action, energizing endocrine system to pump out dopamine and the feel-good hormones.

Today and in each week of our lives, we will be Bill, needing someone else to guide us and shield us from harm. When I asked Bill about his race, he said something incredibly simple and beautifully profound:

"As long as you have a guide you don’t really need to see."

We will also be Ed, given the chance to support someone else in their journey. In that guide role, we are gifted with one of life’s greatest gifts – the chance to serve.

When we are Ed, we are not in a position of power over another; instead, we are a student to Bill, letting him teach us, allowing life’s blurriness to come into crystal clear focus.

Embrace both! To be a guide, and to be guided are perfect complementary parts of today’s journey. Tomorrow’s as well.

What gave me the biggest goosebumps in this picture is actually something not in the shot. I think of how this beautiful Ed-Bill team affected the thousands of runners and spectators around them. I think of the ripple effects of joy that they caused with each step along their journey. Yes, there were runners who inspired awe a few hours ahead of them by their speed, but I doubt that any of those athletes had the effect that Bill-Ed did on those around them. When we serve life’s greatest purpose, the effect on others becomes the primary outcome. When we do something beautiful ala Bill-Ed, we become the vessels for goodness (and dopamine) (and tears) to flow.

Take in this picture one more time. Breathe deep. Imagine running beside Bill and Ed and what you would feel, taking in their glow and the smiles they induced in everyone around them. Let the dopamine and tears flow. Write your own piece about what it means for/to you. Share it with others as an antidote to the "clean out my inbox" daze. 

Dig deep and serve life's greatest purpose this sacred day.

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I want to share a few thoughts from Bill and Ed about their journey.

I run because I love to eat things that aren’t good for you that come from a bakery.  More seriously I run because I love the social aspect of it and as long as you have a guide you don’t really need  to see.  I love the outdoors and it’s a way to be outdoors and exercising.   For Boston I ran with a team called Team with a Vision which is a group of blind and sight impaired runners who mostly were way faster and way more inspirational than me.  There were some incredible athletes in that group,  one being a 28 year old named Chaz Davis who lost his sight at age 19 and who at 23 set the world record for a marathon by a blind person with a 2.31 time.  Guides like Ed and Sarah make this possible for people like Chaz and I.  Boston was a magical experience. Nothing like it in running competition.  The whole town is supporting you. 

- Bill Sciannella

Having the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon was an incredible experience and inspirational in so many ways. My wife Sarah and I both felt energized by the entire event; it encompasses so much more than just the elite runners you see racing on TV.  Between the amazing stories of the para and adaptive runners that we spent the weekend with -- to the numerous charity runners who raise millions of dollars for amazing causes -- the entire event is a celebration of the challenge of running and the power of the human spirit.  We both feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to witness it all first hand. 

-Ed  Beach