1:54:55

Yep…I did it! Explain it how you will, from my perspective, it was 99% God and 1% Me. The 1% I will attribute to myself is the fact that I got out of bed and walked to the starting line…the rest goes to God.

To recap, I hadn’t been able to run the prior 2 weeks because of problems in my legs that had me still limping the night before the race.

I woke up at 6am the day of the race and started my routine to put me at the starting line at 9am. I got back to my hotel room at 7am after breakfast and a 30-minute walk. My wife asked me, “How do you feel?” My response, “My legs haven’t felt this good…maybe ever.” A modern day miracle if you ask me and those that were praying for me.

I still hadn’t tried to even jog until about 15 minutes before the start of the race and then I trotted about a quarter mile to take inventory of my body parts…they were all working.

I bent down to pray before the start of the race with faith that God would watch over my body so that I could finish the race I was about to start.

The atmosphere was exciting! As my first competitive race it was particularly cool to be involved in a “real race.” My friend and I took a starting position at the back of the pack. There were about 160 people running the half-marathon (13.1 miles) and another 200 or so running either the 5K(3.0 miles) or 12K(7.3 miles) races. We were in a good position for video and pictures that our wives were accumulating…2nd to last and 3rd to last at the start! Your time doesn’t start until you cross the line though…everyone has a timing chip on their shoe.

The first mile was a pretty steep uphill. My friend and I ran together and ran past a good portion of the group during the ascent…until I felt my right calve start to tighten. I can’t explain the rush of disappointment and fear that engulfed me at that point. You know that embarrassment feeling when your face just goes to a straight bright red? We hadn’t even made the 1-mile mark and my day was threatening to be over…my heart sunk. I started to fall back like a horse with a broken leg in the Kentucky Derby. My friend asked me, “Is it tightening up?” I responded, “Yes.” A couple seconds later I told him, “Go ahead…don’t wait for me.” That was the last time I saw the back of him.

As I continued to fall back in the pack, everything seemed to go into slow motion and blur as I ran. I looked up to the sky and remember thinking, “Is this it God? Is this how my day ends. Is this really it?”

I had decided not to run with my music (my normal running inspiration) this day. I thought I would be running with my friend and I would want to talk to him and not want to mess with the hassle of the headphones. Now I was all alone. All I could hear was the low hum of the footsteps of the group of runners…those that hadn’t already passed me, that is. I remember hearing the Third Day song in my head, “My Hope is You.”

To you, O Lord, I lift my soul
In you, O God, I place my trust
Do not let me be put to shame
Nor let my enemies triumph over me

My hope is you
Show me your ways
Guide me in Truth
In all my days
My hope is you

I played it over and over in my head as I continued to run. Once I would reach the top of the first hill, I knew I had a nice gradual downhill of about 4 miles to continue to warm up my leg without too much stress. I finished the first 2 miles after nearly 20 minutes…about 3 minutes behind the start I had hoped for. But my leg had been able to hold off the impending cramps. I now understood I would not be running anything close to my goal time…but I might be able to finish…something that back at mile 1 looked to be uncertain at best.

As I continued to run and start to pass a few people again, I noticed that there wasn’t any car traffic on the street…we were running primarily on bike paths We had driven the course the night before to get an idea of the terrain and where to go. Somewhere between mile 3 and 4 I saw my car. Our wives had decided to drive and find us and cheer us on. My wife called out, “How are you doing?” and I heard my son in the back of the car, “Go daddy!” It was awesome! They followed us around and got video and photos of us in about 6 or so different places.

I continued the race and was able to finish without locking up or having to walk. The final challenge was in the 10th mile…the biggest uphill on the course. I did not have to walk up it….but I wasn’t far from it. There was a final turn-around about a 1.5 miles from the finish where I finally passed my friend and yelled him on, “Don’t let me catch you!” He didn’t. He ran a great race and finished 1 hour 52 minutes 23 seconds. I finished in 1:54:55.

It was exhilarating. After the finish, we recapped our runs to each other. I spent some time by the pool that afternoon and then we all went into town for a victory dinner. It was a great vacation!

God granted me the desire of my heart to finish the race and I am so thankful. The entire training process and race day have been an amazing experience. Having my wife and son encourage me along the way was priceless. To know many friends and family members were praying for me to be able to compete was humbling. I am glad to report that God is faithful. Their prayers were heard and I testify that it is only through Him that I was able to finish that race and I give Him all the glory.

I now sit here writing this 3 days later, my legs feeling as fresh as ever. My calves that had given me such trouble as I could barely walk, let alone consider trying to run a distance, feel perfect. God is good…all the time…all the time…God is good.