Running on Faith

I have a certain level of arrogance when it comes to running.  But before I go too far, trust me when I say it has nothing to do with speed.  It has more to do with taking things for granted and in the process giving the wrong impression to others.

For example, I am running the St. Jude Marathon this December (just in case you didn’t know and randomly found this website.)  Out of our team of fifteen runners, seven of us are doing the full marathon and for four of them it is their first.  And it is awesome accomplishment just to sign up for a marathon much less to train for and finish one.  This will be something they remember forever.  And right now, most of them are probably stressed out about how they are going to find the strength to run 26.2 miles, how they are going to handle the pain, how they are going to break through the “Wall”.

But for me, I have already learned all of those things.  I have been to the cave where the bear lives who jumps on peoples backs, and he is presently mounted and standing in my foyer.  I know what it feels like.  And I know I am stronger than it.  Short of a compound fracture with multiple bones penetrating my skin, I will not stop until I cross the finish line.  So the fear of not finishing has lost its motivating force.

This is one of the main reasons I am making an attempt at qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  And right now, I don’t have much faith in my chances of success.  Maybe it has been the weather.  Maybe the stress at work.  Maybe the hectic lives Christine & I live.  Or maybe I have just bitten off way more than I could chew, and I am choking on it.  Whatever it is, I don’t like it.

It is ironic that our team name is Running on Faith and I can’t find any.  Of course, the faith that Christine and I talk about for the team is our faith in God.  So maybe that is what I need to fall back on.  Whether I find the faith in myself to qualify for Boston will remain uncertain until December 5th (or later.)  But as long as I have my faith in God, I will be fine.  And that is another lesson learned that has gotten me through many “Walls.”

I am a little behind on keeping the website up to date, but I hope to remedy that this weekend.  But just to inform our loyal readers, the team is now “officially” up to 12 people now and “unofficially” 14!

Our latest additions are Nancy Padial, Lara Hutchinson, Sara Cornejo, Mason Hutchinson & Connor Futch.  We are also waiting for last years teammate, Dara Bartee, to show up on the team page.  She has already signed up for the race!

To see our team page, visit this link.

Just to show how diversified we are, we have 6 doing the marathon, 3 doing the half-marathon, and 4 doing the 5K.  And I think we will add to that before we are done.

Hopefully the team can keep all the Thank You messages coming in (which means donations to St. Jude!)  And maybe we can all start writing a little more on the blog to let everyone know how we are doing.

By the way, I am tired, sore and aching.  But other than that, things are great!  Thank you God for this little bit of cool weather as a carrot for the months of training ahead.

Okay, so no one is going to post there race report.  I have already covered the race on my Timbeaux site, but I figured I would get the ball rolling over here.

Except for about 21 minutes and 57 seconds last night, I had a blast!  It was great getting everyone together especially around the beer truck afterwards.  It was a shame that Louise couldn’t stay and visit for a while.  Of course, she brought Dara with her, so there wouldn’t have been any beer left for us.  Great to see Dara!  Great that she left us the beer!

Anyway, we will be checking race schedules for the next gathering.  Until then, great job everyone!

Well tonight is the Twilight Classic 5K in Baton Rouge.  And rumour has it that the entire Team Running on Faith will be there.  This will be the first time we have all gotten together, so it should be a blast.

Expect a few “race” reports to follow in the next couple of days!

Last year this little team of 5 misfits raised over $7000.00 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.  What will our hopefully much larger team do this year?  $10,000.00?  $15,000.00?  More?  Only time will tell.

Hello All,

We are trying to get things moving with Team Running on Faith.   So far 5 of us have entered the race, and we know of at least 5 others who will.  If you have an interest in running the 5K, half-marathon or marathon in December and want to join the team then leave us a comment.

For that matter, if you have any comments on the website or ideas for the team, let us know.

We plan on making this site a focal point for our training, fundraising and of course our racing.

So check back often!