1 . In the sport world, athletes usually compete to achieve a new personal best. For one Nebraska teen Brandon Schutt, his personal best turned out not to be about marking the fastest time but _______ the biggest heart.

Before the race, Schutt knew if his time was good enough, he had the _______ to be the winner. _______, a mile into the 3.1-mile race, Schutt realized he wasn't going to _______. Rather than risk injury, he _______ to a comfortable pace to simply enjoy the day.

Meanwhile,another runner, Blake Cerveny, aiming to _______ his own personal best record, was running a very different kind of race with all his _______. With less than 400 meters to go, Cerveny's legs _______ him.

His _______ did not. Determined to finish, Cerveny ________ from the ground and continued on, only to fall again after another 150 meters..and again, he got up. This time he'd run only 25 meters more before going down. Taking great ________, he pulled himself up and moved forward. However,about 100 meters from the finish line, he lay curled (蜷缩) on the ground. His legs had simply ________.

Before medical workers ________ him, Brandon Schutt was at his side to offer a helping hand. He failed to get Cerveny up at first,but like Cerveny, he too refused to ________. With a second ________, Cerveny was on his feet. With Cerveny holding Schutt for support and Schutt helping Cerveny keeping ________, the two completed the ________ 75 meters of the race.

In today's ________ world where the emphasis (重点) in athletics is so often put on breaking records, it was ________ to see that for an athlete like Brandon Schutt, the value of true ________ still shines.