Yesterday's Federer & Murray tennis match, that was part of the Master's Cup, was full of downs and ups. Although, like a see-saw, what is down for one player, is up for the other.
Federer was in pain for the latter part of the match and twice needed treatment. But he refused to give up.
He has never abandoned a match-in-progress in his professional career. And so he persevered even although the pain sometimes slowed him down.
Eventually, he was beaten by Murray - but he didn't give up.
The Vendee Globe round the world yacht race has been full of downs and ups too - and I'm not talking about the large waves!
The storms of the first few days caused 8 of the 30 competitors to return to port for repairs. None of them wanted to give up - especially so early in the race.
One of the eight returnees rejoined the race after only a few hours delay. He has already caught up and overtaken the last of the non-returners.
Another two rejoined several days later and will be racing each other to rejoin the fleet. A fourth competitor is intending to rejoin tomorrow, a week after the start.
For four others, the repairs were too big to accomplish, and they abandoned the race.
Those who carry on with this race around the world will have many disheartening days - as well as their exhilarating days. It will take 80 days or more of continuous racing in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions befothey rach the finishing line back in Les Sables d'Olonne from where they started. No doubt there will be more damage - which now can only be repaired at sea.
Only those who are resourceful enough, and persistent enough, will manage to persevere to the end. Only those who finish will be eligible to win.
In the New Testament, Paul was determined to run his race to the end (1 Cor. 9:24-27). He would finish. And he would take his prize. It might not be first prize, but he knew that a prize awaited him at the finishing line.
Jesus showed us the Way. Indeed, he said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." (John 14:6). He told his disciples that for everyone who finishes the race there is a prize - a place in the Father's house - for ever.
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If you fancy following the Vendee in a bit more detail from a different perspective I'm writing a blog called http://jonnymalbon.com. Jonny's the 34 year old skipper of another British boat called Artemis. I'm his brother and his friends and family are working together to cover the 26,000 mile race using only a blog and Twitter. Jonny is 'tweeting' from the boat as he goes (as far as we know this is a first) and they go directly onto the blog. Come and let us know what you think. It's all a bit of an experiment but it's fun. We're using free media to see if we can do something different and a bit more organic than the 'official' race sites (which all look ridiculously expensive but lack a sense of community). Tim Malbon
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