1 . Can you imagine the power of a father? On Sept.17, 2022, a man and his son ______ to begin the first of three legs of the Ironman competition in Cambridge. Jeff Agar, 59, and his son, Johnny Agar, weren’t the ______ participants. Johnny has suffered from a brain disease and finds difficulty in ______. Consequently, throughout the race, Jeff would ______ as Johnny’s, arms and legs.

The race began with a 2.4-mile swim in a river. With one end of a rope ______ around his back and the other to a kayak (皮艇) with Johnny in, Jeff ______ into the water. Swimming while dragging another person is ______ enough. The pair completed the swim in 90 minutes, and here came the next ______: a 112-mile bicycle ride. Their special bike has an additional seat in the back for Johnny that ______ backward, which made it easier to observe and cheer on other ______ behind.

After roughly nine hours, they set their sights on the final leg — a 26.2-mile marathon with Jeff ______ Johnny in the racing chair. ______, Jeff and Johnny managed to pick up the pace. With only 200 feet to the finish line, Jeff ______ to help Johnny out of his racing chair. After years of tough ______, Johnny was determined to finish the last part of the race on his own.

Eventually, the ______ pair crossed the finish line together. As the crowd. cheered loudly, the tired Jeff just kept a low profile. “He didn’t want his finish line moment,” says Johnny. “He wanted it to be mine.”

2 . On a recent Sunday morning jog through Prospect Park, Martinus Evans was received like a conquering champion. Every few minutes, a passing _________ would smile and nod, congratulating him as they _________.

Mr Evans is the _________ of Slow AF Run Club. At 300 pounds, he is a _________ figure among runners who have felt left out of the sport. He’s graced the cover of Runner’s World and _________ in the ads of sports brands. And this month, he’s releasing his first book.

The idea for the club was born at about mile 16 of the 2018 New York City Marathon, just after the tiring Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. Mr Evans was running along when he _________ a man gesturing from the sidelines.

“You’re _________, buddy,” the man shouted, adding an impolite word to indicate just how slow. “Go home.” Mr Evans tried to _________him, and turned his attention back to the _________. Six hours behind the winner, he __________ finished it in over eight hours. But as the bystander repeated his __________ word, Mr Evans got angrier-then __________. The next time he raced, he wore a shirt with that man's phrase, and a cartoon of a smiling turtle. When he __________ photos of his new uniform on social media, __________ asked for shirts of their own. By early 2019, his running club was born.

He said his driving message is simple: “I want everyone to know that they can run in the __________ they have right now.”

4 . After winning the 100-meter dash at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in August, 26-year-old sprinter (短跑运动员) Noah Lyles was named “World’s Fastest Man”. Now he has his ____ set on winning more medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Lyles, the son of two former runners, grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. He began ______ as a sprinter when he was a teenager and dreamed of going to the Olympics. He ______ for a spot (排名位置) on the US Olympic team in 2016 but did not ______. Fortunately, in 2021, he ______ the US team for the Tokyo Games and won a bronze medal in the 200-meter race.

Lyles has been ______ with legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who has held the same ____   “World’s Fastest Man”. Bolt won the 100 meter and 200 meter races at the World Championships and still holds the ___in the 200 meter with a time of 19. 19 seconds, set in 2009. Lyles’ best time for that race is 19.31, and he said his _____ is to run it in 19.10 seconds, which would break Bolt’s record. Lyles said that he did not ______ top runners like Bolt as idols (偶像) while growing up. “I believed in myself and in learning something from _____people, because everyone has their own advantage,” he said.

After his win, Lyles said he felt that his years of training and patience have finally ______. In Paris next year, Lyles hopes to win more golds.   “If I got three gold medals at the World Championships, maybe I have the ______ to get three gold medals at the Olympics,” he said. His another expectation is to make track and field more _____ and accessible to a large number of people. “I’m trying to make sure that everybody comes and ______ the sport,” he said.

7 . This is the dream of my running partner: Eduardo. He’s a marathon runner with an eye problem who needs ______ to train and to compete.

Eduardo has been running longer than me, and has more desire than any person I know. ______ , he didn’t like training for a marathon. He ran with ______ , without a clear goal, got bored with training and didn’t train with many people.

Now it has ______ — he has an 18-week training plan where he runs six days a week, and he has realized he ______ running more because he has a ______ — to make a little progress every day. He runs with me, one who loves running so much and with the training group at La Tapia de Madrid. The ______ we share for running is what ______ us.

Eduardo and I run together by a rope-I have to ______ turns, different terrain (地形) and barriers. It’s ______ , but I have never ______ this in the presence of others. The main thing we ______ is to run confidently and enjoy running as a whole.

Now, Eduardo goes running with different people, but with a fixed goal of rhythm (节奏) and ______ . He has taken five weeks of training, but he says he will keep on doing it, because he has understood ______ can be the way to improve his fitness.

Eduardo wants to run sub-3:30 in the Madrid Marathon, and he will do it. ______ , it’s not written in stone, but I’m confident that he’s going to succeed.

8 . At age 83, Barbara Humbert dreams of taking part in next year’s “Marathon for All” race at the Paris Olympic Games. It is the first ______ of its kind, allowing amateur(业余)athletes to run the same race path as the Olympic marathon athletes. Humbert has a history of success suggesting she could ______ some runners half her age.

Unlike your ______ great-grandmother, the German-born Frenchwoman runs 50 kilometers a week. She has ______ in many marathons and has the medals to show for it. “It's ______ to have the Olympics in my homeland,” said Humbert, “It would be a ______ for my 60th marathon.”

However, Humbert is ______ whether she will receive the paper for admission to the race, as the number for the Marathon for All will be ______ to 20,024. Humbert's husband Jacques is a big supporter, helping where he can. He is waiting to hear from the sports ministry about the ______ to reserve a piece of admission paper for his wife.

Many ______ hang in the entrance of Barbara and Jacques’s home. They ______ Barbara of all the races she has taken part in, from Athens to Boston and many other cities. She figures out that she has ______

about 8,000 kilometers in those races.

Humbert wants others to ______ in her footsteps. She said of running, “It gives you balance. You run, you empty your head, you feel ______ relaxed afterwards.” Barbara is planning for more races ______ just staying on what has been achieved.

10 . Adriaan Wildschutt is a South African middle-distance runner. Recently he _______ to break two previous records in a row in just three months, which were set in 1999 and 2016. While qualifying (取得资格) for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 was his main _______, breaking two records was a(n) _______ but great achievement.

With such a performance, Wildschutt has put himself in a strong _______ for future competitions during the World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger in Belgium. And he looks forward to _______ his country on a global stage.

“Well, it is _______ to know that I have written myself into the history books of South African athletics. It has always been a _______, and knowing that my hard work paid off in such a surprising way is joyful,” said Adriaan Wildschutt. “I guess I _______ from the elevation training over there a lot. It’s just having a great coach and a great team and having all the things that I need to _______ well and stay healthy and consistent,” Wildschutt said.

“The 3,000 m for me is really the most ________ — It’s short and fast and very exciting. It’s probably not the event I’m best at, but I ________ enjoy running in it. I would probably say my best events are 5,000 m-10,000 m,” said Wildschutt with ________.

The United States-based athlete said one should work hard to achieve the goals. “Work hard in all ________ of your life, whether that is personally, academically (学业地) or athletically. It’s important that you keep them ________. Discipline (自律) is also ________, which helps you manage yourself well. It is what made me who I am today.”