The Maryville Marathon was held Saturday, June 14. Packet pickup was from 4-8pm the day before the race where they (Chamber of Commerce) were kind enough to allow TEAM 413 to attend. Loved getting to know the runners and share what our ministry is about. There was such a variety of runners as the race had a 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon all starting together. Loved hearing the different stories of why the individuals chose their race distances and what their goals were.
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The race was to begin at 6:30 am Saturday morning with a prerace prayer at 6:00 a.m. at the race starting line. Shannon Briscoe and I were up by 5 am and out the door by 5:45. We rode with Jim Mcdermott to the race start. All three of us were signed up for the full marathon (26.2 miles). Crazy as it sounds, we were all wearing jackets. The middle of June and it was a cold start to the day-the wind was blowing like crazy too. 25mph winds were forecasted for the morning and the afternoon. Unfortunately, 15 of the 26 miles would be spent battling that wind head on.
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| Prerace prayer. The young kid in the middle, Peter, was only 14 years old and running his first marathon. I knew then one of the reasons God had brought us to Maryville-we prayed over this young man and offered advice and encouragement. He ended up finishing in 3 hours and 42 minutes-an amazing accomplishment for any marathon but more so for a first time race,a hard and hilly course and brutal winds. |
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One of our new TEAM 413 members.
We sold very few shirts but pray we planted
many seeds. |
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| Some fun in the parking lot prerace with Jim and Shannon. |
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The Army was with us for the first 2 miles
leading us on with their chants. |
The race started right on schedule. There were close to 300 people total running all four distances so I made sure to enjoy the company while it was there. I knew it would get quieter and quieter as the runners not running the full marathon completed their distance or turned to circle back on their marked routes. There were about 70 runners that attempted the full marathon.
The first three miles were somewhat easy and then the fun began. Hills, hills and more hills. Wind, wind and more wind-blowing so hard at times it was hard to exhale making it more difficult to breathe. It seemed I was expending the energy of an 8 minute pace but barely keeping it at 9. This was going to be tough. The wind was relentless. But, the day was beautiful and the temperature staying under 70. There were water stations every mile with gatorade and smiling volunteers. Plenty of porta potties too (its a runner thing). The half marathoners finished where the race started as the rest of us made a loop in front of the finish line to run the 13.1 mile loop for the second time. As expected, the second loop was far harder than the first. The temperature had gone up and it seemed the hills had grown. As I was getting tired and slowing down, I thought, "Ok Lord, what do You have in store for me?" From experience I know that God puts me in places in a race where He wants me, not where I want to be so I was ready. I was pleasantly surprised when I came upon a young man named Matt that was struggling and badly cramping (I gave him a gel which seemed to help a bit). As God would have it, we spent the last 9 miles talking and helping eachother to the finish line. Time didn't matter, only that moment in time. I prayed to find the words he needed to hear as we discussed some things going on in his life and the reasons he ran. I mostly listened and silently prayed as we trudged along. When the time was right, I shared how God loved Him and would carry him through just as he would today when we relied on His strength to get to the finish line.... and we finally did!!!
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| Jim beginning the race. |
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| Got to chat briefly with our new member. |
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Shannon and I were just happy to be done!! Smiles of relief!
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This will go down as one of the top 3 hardest marathons I've done but, crazy as it sounds, one of the most enjoyable. The course itself was hard and, with little crowd support, it was easy to get discouraged. The 25 mph winds were the biggest thing we battled. But, as always, God is good and we finished the race proving, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
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