Mother Road Marathon

Took Second place at the Joplin Marathon on Sunday, October 13, 2013 with a time of 3:43.
 

Two new members race day morning

Saturday at the expo at the Joplin City Hall

 

 

Had a great race Sunday in Joplin.  This 26.2 mile course was mentally challenging as most of the run, I was alone.  There were only 179 runners which had quickly thinned out by mile 5 and was very spread out by mile 13.  Last year was a unique experience for me, and, not in a good way physically.  I knew I was in trouble my mile 3 when the Lord was quiet.  I have never had that experience when He was so totally absent.  I now know that when He does that, He is preparing me for something.  At the time though it was horrible. Made it through that race by the skin of my teeth and a lesson in obedience.  But I made a new friend.  And that's a whole other story!

So, my prayer this year was for Him not to take His presence away from me.  I could handle anything else He needed me to do except that.  To my relief, His presence was stronger than ever and I knew it was going to be a great day.  The first 13.1 miles was flat and pretty boring as there's really not much to see.  However, we were blessed with cloud cover and a spot or two of sunshine which kept the temperature down.  There was a very strong headwind the whole race.  Sometimes blowing so hard, I could not hear my music.  That served to be a big annoyance throughout the entire race but manageable.  Followed two girls until mile 17 when they slowed their pace.  One of them was Grace Garcia who went on to place 3rd in the womens division.  There was a huge hill at that mile which slowed a lot of people down.  After mile 17, it went flat.  Then it was upward to some extent the rest of the race, being a hill or upward grade.  Between the wind and the constant going up, it seemed many of the runners were struggling... including me.  But, made it through and then stayed around to cheer on some of the other runners I had met at the expo and had been praying for. 

All in all, a fantastic day.  I am forever grateful for the ability to run and for God's grace upon my life.  I am truly blessed beyond measure.