Never Before...

Never before has a University of Richmond Track and Field female-athlete thrown a javelin farther than 47 meters. Since the inception of the program the best competition throw by a member of the women's program was impressive, but this Saturday, for the first time ever, someone threw 48.08. Heather Roush threw approximately one whole meter farther than the historic best that UR had to offer. This is even more impressive considering her penultimate throw set her own PR to day of just over 44 meters. It's such a great concept to think about, not only continually improving ourselves and our own best efforts but being able to build upon every one else before us and to be better than they're ever been.

This is not the first time I've witnessed people surpass the historic "best-possible" level set by all other people who've tried before. Everyone likes the idea of human progress, surpassing what has been the best effort of mankind thus far. We've all read an edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, there are people who have made it a goal to jump more times on a pogo stick than anyone else ever has before. My sister, who swam at GMU, broke records while she was there, and is friends with a young woman who holds a world record in distance swimming. It's mindblowing really, when you think about it, that thought that for a time, that is the best time that recorded history has ever acknowledged.

I guess I just love this thought, that we can continually improve and build upon and expand what others have set before us. This ability becomes so apparent in sport, in quantifiable measures of human body and its athletic feats, but its application in the world around us causes me to hope.