Last Saturday, my girls and I joined the crowds cheering on runners at the Melbourne 5K, where my husband was taking part in the Melbourne Marathon Festival weekend.
There is something about race day that I find incredibly uplifting. Thousands of people, each with their own motivations, challenges and goals, come together in a shared experience. Some are running for personal achievement, some for physical or mental strength, and some for a cause that matters deeply to them. Others are simply hoping to make it to the finish line.
We saw people of all ages and abilities taking part, from little ones being pushed along in prams to older runners with many kilometres behind them. Everyone had their own reasons for being there, but something about the atmosphere seemed to strip away the differences and divisions that so often separate us.
For those few hours, everyone was simply part of the same human race.
And everywhere we looked, people were cheering one another on. Spectators lined the route with handmade signs, offered high fives and shouted encouragement to people they had never met. Every cheer seemed to be met with a smile or a wave, and even the funniest signs were greeted with laughter and appreciation.
Our favourite sign of the day read, “Great job, random stranger!” I couldn't think of a better way to sum it all up.
What struck me most was how freely people offered their support. They didn't know whether the person running past was having the best day of their life or struggling through something incredibly difficult. They didn't know whether this was their first race or their fiftieth. They simply saw someone doing something challenging and chose to cheer them on.
Of course, we came to support my husband, and watching the girls spot their dad among the runners, hold their signs high and wave as he blew them kisses from the course was a highlight of the day. But I hope they came away with something even more meaningful. They got to see people being kind to other people, recognising the effort of complete strangers and lifting them up for no other reason than to offer encouragement.
I found myself wishing we could carry a little more of that spirit into everyday life. That we could look beyond the differences between us, recognise the challenges others might be facing, and offer encouragement without needing to know their whole story.
Because whatever race we're running, whatever challenges we're facing, a little kindness along the way can make all the difference.
Calee Loughran