Humility

This story comes from last week at the New York Times, by Manny Fernandez.


Mike Segar/Reuters

"Millions of people around the city and the world watched and cheered Edison Peña as he ran in the New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Everyone knew of Mr. Peña, the Chilean miner who famously jogged three to six miles a day while trapped underground for more than two months. Few knew anything of the two men who served as Mr. Peña’s shadows, jogging and walking and sweating with him for five hours through five boroughs for 26.2 miles, at the elbows of one of the most celebrated runners in the recent history of the New York City Marathon."
Continue reading the story...

This story chokes me up every time I read. First off... imagine the overwhelming feeling of going from being a normal Chilean miner to being trapped underground, running in the dark to being a celebrity at one of the world's most famous marathons. I can't believe what he accomplished so soon after his ordeal!
But the quiet humility of his honor guard is what catches my heart. Can you imagine squeezing a marathon in before a seven-hour restaurant shift? And without plans to have trained for that specific race? These guys are heroes themselves. The respect, care, and honor they showed Mr. Peña is humbling... neither one tried to share the limelight at all. They were simply honored to be a part of history.