“I’m not even supposed to be here.”

“I’m not even supposed to be here.”
I was having the best race of my life, and I wasn’t even on the original roster.

This thought crossed my mind during my HURT100 finish in January.
I was five hours faster than my time the year before, and technically I wasn’t supposed to be there.

I wasn’t selected in the lottery like most runners.
My name never appeared anywhere near the top of the waitlist.

But I found another path.

Months after the initial selection, the race directors host a separate 55-mile race on the island. Anyone who finishes it earns another shot at a HURT100 entry.

Local runners call it “the golden ticket.”

This year, I got the golden ticket!

So there I was on race day, thinking about the strange path that put me on the starting line.

“I’m not even supposed to be here.”

That thought shows up in life more than we expect.

Sometimes it brings doubt.
Sometimes it brings insecurity.

But it can also bring urgency, gratitude, and responsibility.

How do we behave when we’re not supposed to be here?

Do we focus on all the ways it almost didn’t happen?

OR do we treat it like the gift that it is,
and go boldly forward!