The National Youth Agency: Comment - The ability to surprise

An old school mate of mine, Bernie was also a thin, mouthy kid, mercilessly picked on because of his diminutive stature, who drove the teachers wild as they tried to introduce him to the charms of academic study. In geography, he wasn't interested in the chosen town study unless they had a football team and had played his beloved Liverpool within the past 20 years. He got into trouble and roamed the streets. Bernie didn't do school, and left at the first opportunity. No surprise.

What was a surprise was when, many years later, I heard that Bernie had almost caused a major athletics upset by entering the Vancouver marathon as a complete unknown and came within a minute of beating off an international field and winning at his first attempt. Why was I so surprised? Because while a lot was known about Bernie's bad attitude, bad behaviour and academic allergies, no-one knew about his innate running talent, fierce will and capacity for self-discipline and training. No-one asked, no-one bothered and no-one believed.