General News
5 July, 2026
Smiles with Sally: The finish line feels closer together
“It was so much more fun running together rather than running fast alone.” Our resident columist Sally Pymer says a simple comment can carry a powerful lesson.
The smiles weren’t from the ones running alone, but the ones running together.
It reminded me of the quote “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”
I was recently at a trail running event as a spectator on the sidelines, and it was such a valuable experience.
There were people running alone, people running together, people with only eyes for the finish line, and people who were taking the environment fully in.
What stood out to me the most though was those running together.
I watched the start line, at a few locations along the trail, and the finish line and over those 21 kilometres something interesting happened.
There’d be one runner appear to struggle a little and be encouraged by their friend.
Next time it would be the opposite. The person who had needed support earlier had now become the encourager.
On most occasions though both were smiling and chatting away.
What struck me most though was that despite the fatigue, most of them were still smiling and chatting.
As the kilometres increased, so did the smiles.
There didn’t seem to be pressure about who finished first. It was about getting to the finish line together.
I heard a comment from one participant on finishing who said, “I just ran 21kms in the time I usually run 42kms, but I had so much more fun.”
“It was so much more fun running together rather than running fast alone.”
It made me think about what has happened in some of our lives.
The pressure to go faster and do more, and often alone.
Pressure to not really enjoy the moment or notice the people around us due to belief we need to get onto the next thing.
Belief that once we do the next job, we’ll have time to stop, catch up with people and take in the moment, yet it never comes. There is always something else to do.
I wonder what would happen if we took the pressure off a bit. If we decided to not compete against each other but all try to get to the finish line together.
If we saw someone struggling and instead of leaving them to go alone, we stopped and supported them so they could continue also.
What if success wasn’t about getting to the finish line first, but making sure nobody felt they had to get there alone?
So, this week’s challenge is not to ask yourself how fast you can go, but who you can bring alongside you.