"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Saturday, July 11 was the annual summer trail run, appropriately named Psycho Psummer, hosted by the Trail Nerds of Kansas City. The name itself implies that if a person is "playing with a full deck" this would not be the race for them. Since this was to be my fifth time attending the event, you could guess that I am a few cards short of a full house. But isn't that what makes us runners different? And speaking of different, this was to be no ordinary Psycho Psummer trail run. With more than a weeks worth of rain and widespread flooding, the trail had become a slippery slope of mud and clay more than a foot deep in places. Combined with the mountainous terrain, ruts, rocks and water crossings, this single track trail run became more like a tough mudder on steroids.
In fact, it became so tough so quickly into the race that many of us questioned whether we would be able to finish before the first three miles were completed! I had signed up for the 50k which required completing three loops of this now
Super Psycho trail. By the end of the first loop, which took over three hours (way more than last year), I knew there was absolutely no way to make the cutoff to complete the 31 miles. I could quit, and believe me I wanted to, or drop down to the 20 mile distance which would require completing a second loop of this trail that had just spanked me... hard. So, along with the majority of the "ultra" runners, I swallowed my pride, officially dropped down and went back for round two of the beating. Praise God I emerged another four hours later... muddy, tired, alive and completely thankful for friends with a finish time of 7 hours and 55 minutes that I will celebrate.
I once heard it said that the greatest friendships are forged by adversity. Dictionary.com defines adversity as a condition marked by distress. Wow, did that ever describe this race! Yet, everywhere I looked, there was kindness, encouragement and friendship. From the volunteers who offered uplifting words, hydration and food (even cleaning the mud off our water bottles to do so) to the man who graciously washed off the shoes of the runners (knowing that they would be covered with mud again within a few feet), I was reminded that no one can make it through a race, or life, alone, Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us that, "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."
As I passed through the first loop, alone for the most part, I felt defeated. I was tired and, although I knew God was all I needed, I couldn't help but pray for a "friend" for support. On the second loop, many runners passed by offering encouraging words as I returned, what I hoped to be, the same. Even so, by the last four miles, I felt overcome... until a "friend" came my way. Without many words, we seemed to know that we could complete the race if we helped one another. And when the mud became too deep and too much of a vacuum (holding my legs down) to climb, he was there with a hand to help me up and over a steep ridge. And when I fell, that same hand was there to lift me up once again.
At the finish line, drained, sore and ever grateful, I sat back and listened as the runners shared similar stories of how a "friend" helped them to finish. We all agreed that this was a trail run that would never be forgotten. But I do think it will be as much for the friendships formed as much as for the terrain that forged them. Praise God for friends and psycho trails.
Heavenly Father, thank you for being so gracious to give us friends to help us in our times of need. May we be willing to always put aside our goals and ambitions to "encourage one another and to build another up". May we strive to be remembered by the actions we did during our time on the trail rather than the time we completed it in. Help us to always put others first that they might see You in us. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
Mandisa - Overcomer
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| After the race. This was after washing off too!! |
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| Even after being rinsed, there was no hope for the shoes or socks. |
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| A runner with a camera captured the clay/mud mixture. And this wasn't the deepest or the worst of it. What a blessed day for running!! |
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| Thankful and humbled to have finished. |
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| Before the race |
