完形填空

　　Four short years ago, I felt lucky after escaping one of those terrible 2-mile gym fitness runs．I hated 　　1　　; it was just something that 　　2　　 came easily to me．At that time, if you had．told me that I would one day run a marathon, I'd have told you in all honesty that I had a better 　　3　　 of winning the lottery(彩票)．

　　The turning 　　4　　 came when I met Mrs．Gray．She was fifty years old, going through chemotherapy(化疗)for her cancer, and still 　　5　　 to run 30 miles a week．I 　　6　　 that if Mrs．Gray could run 6 miles at a time, I could run at least one or two．In February, in a cold weather, I started to walk a 2-mile 　　7　　 around my neighborhood．Two months later, I 　　8　　 the whole route, running, for the first time．I felt exhausted, 　　9　　 I felt happy．

　　Over the next several years, I continued to push each run for a few 　　10　　 minutes, slowly building my endurance(耐力)．I didn't need to 　　11　　 against other runners, for my most important competitor was myself．

　　After continuing to 　　12　　 myself, I knew it was time to step it up．I 　　13　　 I would train for the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon．

　　Race day 　　14　　 came, and I was filled with excitement and wbrry．It was final time to see what I was made of．The 　　15　　 ended up incredibly．I did 　　16　　 through the last few miles, but after my journey, there was no doubt in my mind that I'd finish．As I 　　17　　 the finish line, I experienced the strongest sense of 　　18　　 and happiness I ever had in my life．I was now a marathoner．

　　As John Bingham once said, "The 　　19　　 isn't that I finished．The miracle(奇迹)is that I had the 　　20　　 to start．"