WEBVTT

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I know that this year's theme of the

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marathon involves resilience . And if

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you'll allow me , I'd like to share a ,

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a brief story that I think applies a

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number of years ago . I was down at

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camp Lejeune . I found myself speaking

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to one of the marines who had been

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grievously injured . That marine ,

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he looks me in the eye and he simply

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says , Semper Fidelis , if that

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marine and his life live are not

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the embodiment of resilience , then I

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don't know what resilience looks like

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the uniform down to the sea , lifted

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and back on my heart . And I was like ,

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I wanna be in that uniform , my

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stepmother at the time , she would ,

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she would tell me that you fell so many

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times . Why don't you just go do

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something else ? You're failing .

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You're not gonna make it , just go do

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something else . But I knew inside of

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me , I wanted to be anyone that is ,

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have a dream or wants to do something ,

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go for it as long as you put your mind

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to it , as long as you go for it ,

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even if it's not your own person ,

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you're your biggest cheerleader . You

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are your person that is supposed to

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push yourself . It's not a

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race that one just runs just to kind of

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tour around Washington DC and see the

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sights . There's something much better

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than that is to commit oneself to a

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disciplined training regimen , uh for

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however long that training regimen was

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and then to come here on game day along

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with 29,000 other runners to accomplish

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the final task .

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Additionally , in keeping with the

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Marine Corps marathon's global

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reputation is the people's marathon .

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We are determined to celebrate every

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runner through the transformation of

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the Marine Corps values of honor ,

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courage , and commitment into indelible

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individual , affirmations of

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achievement , recognition , respect ,

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remembrance , and rededication . I

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don't hear that voice anymore . And so

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the miles that you accumulate , whether

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it's on the streets of whatever part of

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the country you're from or the globe ,

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um It just quiets that mind , that

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thing telling you to stop just to get

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us until you can't hear it anymore .

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Keep believing in yourself , keep

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believing in this beautiful country and

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you'll see that we're fine . This is

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the best place in the globe to

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reconnect with each other .