You are a winner

Just getting to the starting line makes you a winner. 

There was a moment, probably several of them, where you said to yourself something like, "I can't do this." But you didn't listen, and you kept going. That makes you a winner. 

When you felt the wind whipping across the fields of Parma, the interstate highway roaring in the distance, and you saw the flags flapping at the finish line, you knew you could do it. So you dug down, found the gumption and the grit you needed, and finished strong. That makes you a winner.

Then, as your body tried to get back to "normal," you felt a mix of dizziness and euphoria. Maybe your legs felt like jelly for a bit. And you knew you had left it all on the race course. That makes you a winner.

Regardless of how you place or how long it takes, pushing yourself to get up and get moving: that makes you a winner.