In the movie Rocky, the title character’s girlfriend asks him why it is so important for him to “go the distance” in the boxing match. “Then I’ll know I’m not a bum,” he replies. In the movie Chariots of Fire one of the main characters explains why he works so hard at running the hundred-yard dash for the Olympics. He says that when each race begins, “I have ten lonely seconds to justify my existence.” Both of these men looked to athletic achievement as the defining force that gave meaning to their lives.
