Chicago Marathon 2009 - edited (500 words)

I don’t remember what the inspiration was for me to set a goal to run in the Chicago Marathon . I have never participated in any sport. 6 years later running is a big part of my life.
Last Sunday I volunteered at the Marathon. As a pastor, showing up for duty at 4:30 am, when I have church at 10 is pretty ambitious. But volunteering on race day is the only way to get a free jacket. My duty was to be a part of a human chain in front of the top 100 runners until the buzzer starts – and then to get out of the way. If the runners are not coordinated and controlled, there will be a major trampling. After the start we all starred in amazement for 30 minutes as the mass of adrenalin snaked forward . As the race progresses for 26.2 miles- many of these people will start to drop out, some injured, some discouraged, some disqualified. But at this moment, they were all winners.
The marathon experience starts two days earlier, as the runners arrive. Some are from Chicago, some from across the country, some from around the world. All of them in ordinary clothes, living ordinary lives, preparing themselves for an extraordinary race. It is not physically possible for the human body to run 26.2 miles. After 20 miles, your body depletes every possible energy reserve. Your mind power enables you to complete the last 6 miles. Yet something in each of their spirits has told them they are up for the challenge – so they show up: pick up their registration material, attend the expo, eat pasta, meet other runners, and show up at the starting line in unpredicatable Chicago weather. Being a part of that experience at any point is enough inspiration to believe that you can achieve anything that you set your mind to.
if I had run, I would have honestly been at the very back of the line, cold, praying for just enough strength to finish at some point in the day. As a volunteer, I was at the very front of the starting line. I got the chance to channel the energy of the best athletes in the country, so they could lead 34,000 runners safely across the start line.
I made it to church on time. In many ways, the benediction is the start line of the race of our Christian journey. The light of Jesus Christ goes before us, and we are told to go forth our into the world. Imagine what would happen if , we ran out of the church with the energy of a marathon runner? How would we transform the world?
1 Corinthians 9:23-25 says “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” For Christians, every day is intended to be a marathon.