In a story published by SlowTwitch last week, it was reported that: Nike, the pioneer of carbon-plated footwear, has been sued by a former NCAA Division I athlete who claims that the AlphaFly 2 caused her to suffer a catastrophic fracture in her foot.
Heather Cerney’s attorneys filed the suit against the footwear behemoth this week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which alleges Cerney suffered a sesamoid fracture in her left foot due to the carbon plate and geometry of the AlphaFly.
Cerney ran track and cross-country for the University of California, Berkeley. She ran mostly distance events during her tenure there from 2011 to 2015, with appearances at the NCAA West Region Cross Country Championships. Her best event on track was the 1500, whereas she performed best at 5 kilometers at cross country.
According to the suit, Cerney paid full retail plus local tax of nearly $300 for the AlphaFly 2 in November 2023. She then wore the shoes for the first time for the San Francisco Turkey Trot, a 5 mile road race. Cerney finished as the second overall female and won her age group. After the race, the suit claims Cerney began suffering from severe pain in her left foot.
Testing showed a fracture in a sesamoid. The sesamoid bones are two small bones underneath the joint of the first metatarsal. It effectively acts much like a kneecap does, facilitating movement during walking and running activities. Cerney was forced to undergo surgery for the injury, as sesamoid fractures are susceptible to necrosis due to a lack of available blood supply.
According to the complaint, Cerney has been left with a permanent partial disability despite the medical intervention, which impacts both her daily life and her ability to work. Cerney is no longer able to run competitively. The suit references both an ongoing loss of earnings as well as loss of potential earning capacity as a result of the injury…
As many runners can attest, the benefits of carbon-plated footwear are relatively clear: faster running. But, as this story clearly shows, many times the benefits (in this case, running faster) are short-lived and come with a lifetime of consequences.
The same can be said about sin if you think about it. Yet so many of us fall for the devils ploys over and over again. And one of his greatest ploys to tempt us to sin involves deception—something we see in the devils conversation with Eve. “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” was the question the cunning serpent asked Eve.
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:2-5
The enemy downplayed the consequences of sinning against God and tempted her with the benefit of supernatural knowledge and enlightenment if she would simply give in to his temptation. In today’s language, the conversation might have sounded something like this, “Oh come one Eve. You’re not gonna die! That’s silly. Surely God won’t really kill you. He just doesn’t want you to eat the fruit because He knows you’ll become like Him if you do, and then you won’t need Him anymore.” See the deception?
And of course we know how all this turned out. Eve ate the fruit and then offered it to Adam who also ate the fruit. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” But that wasn’t the worst part. When they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day, Adam and Eve hid themselves. They traded a moment of sin for the precious and close fellowship they had enjoyed with God, Himself.
The serpent promised they would have knowledge and a god-like status if they would only eat of the one and only fruit God had commanded them not to eat. What might have felt good in the moment (the short term benefit of sin) came with a lifetime of consequences as we read in Genesis 3.
Adam and Eve would no longer enjoy the pure and undefiled fellowship they had had with the Lord before they sinned, but were sent out of the garden and made to till the land. What God had freely provided them with in paradise (food, clothing, shelter) would now have to come by their hard toil and labor. And there was no going back! Although Adam and Eve were sorry for what they had done, the world is still feeling the consequences of their sin today.
But that’s the thing about sin… As Adrian Rogers said, “It will take you further than you want to go; it’ll keep you longer than you want to stay; and it will cost you more than you want to pay.” You think it will get you somewhere, but it will only get you separated from God in the end, the One who made mankind for sweet communion.
"Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness." 1 Timothy 6:6-11
So, don't fall for the ploys of the devil my friend. The benefits of sin that he tempts you with such as fame, fortune, beauty, pleasure, or psychic powers are always short-lived, always come at a price, and always have lasting consequences. Be content with what the Lord gives you (remembering He fills your needs and not your greeds) and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness--things that have holy benefits both now and for eternity.
Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that the devil has been a cunning serpent from the beginning of his creation and speaks nothing but lies. Help us to understand that every word out of his mouth is a fabrication spoken to deceive people into falling into sin and the death that it brings. Help us to recognize his ploys so that we might avoid them and warn others to do the same. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!
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