Angels in my midst, and on the course... (part III)

The day started at the Team World Vision tent with photos and goose bump raising "rally cry" that shook the ground of Charity Village.





We reached the start Corral C at about 7:40am. It was already quite warm, and downright balmy. The excitement in the air was so thick you could cut it. Helicopters overhead, Music blaring over the loudspeakers, and runners are far as you could see.



It started off as Tim and I. Shortly however, we found 3 other Team World Vision runners all with the same 3:30 to 3:45 pace goal. Congratulations to Ginny, Kristin, and Burt. I hope you all were satisfied with your race in spite of the heat.






At 8am the race started. Full of energy, we crossed the start line at about 8:02:23. The sea of bobbing heads in front of us was indescribable. I wish I had taken a picture. Just a soon as the race started, Burt, Kristin, and Ginny were all lost in a sea of runners. It was back to just Tim and myself.


It was very exciting and uplifting to see Jodie, our son, and Jodie's sister at the 1 mile mark. My Mom and Dad were in the huge, orange World Vision cheering section at the 3.5 mile marker. Amazing!! Thank you all, your cheering made such a big difference. Even with only 3.5 miles down, it was already a difficult race.

By about mile 6 or so, Tim and I separated. I was feeling pretty good at the time, so I was trying to stay with the 3:30 pace group. As the miles ticked off, they started to tick off slower and slower. By the 13.1 mark I was on pace for a 3:41 pace. Slower than my goal, but I still feel pretty good. In the next few miles, that's went my race went downhill very very quickly. It started with some tightening in my left calf. It was intermittent so I persevered. The right calf then started in on me. That's when the weirdest experience in all my sporting occurred. Imagine your feet as you try and curl your toes under. Well my toes started doing that involuntarily. As you might think, you cant run, heck you can't even walk like that. I was only able to slowly jog a 1/2 mile or so at a time. Frequent stops were needed to try and stretch, which helped and would allow me another 1/2 to mile of progress.

After feeling a bit lightheaded I realized that my fluid intake, while quite a lot, was not enough. So I started to gulp Gatorade and water, and that all cleared up quick enough. It was at about miles 18 or so that I looked up. There he was. Head slung low, and methodically jogging along. It was Tim, my training partner. I literally hobbled out to tap him on the shoulder. Our conversation went something like this. "Hey! How are you?", Tim says. "Tim, I'm not doing good. I don't think I'm gonna make it." "Come on we can do it", Tim says. "No Tim, I don't think so. its not good. I'm having to walk very often. I'm all cramped up. I don't want to hold you back, go on, you can do it". "No we are going to finish together", says Tim.

8 miles later. Dozens of cups of Gatorade. Even more cups of water used to douse ourselves to stay cool. Multiple walking breaks for me to rest my calves, and Tim to rest his hamstring. Past the Dragons of China town. Past Forrest (a colleague of Jodie's) screaming at me slow loud, lifting me up, at just about my lowest point of the race. Past hundreds of other screaming fans cheering us on. Past Tim's wonderful family lifting us both at mile 25, and his daughters running beside him carrying an Ethiopian flag. Up the hill on Roosevelt, turning left towards the finish, Jodie, with our son, and her sister there with only 200 or so meters to go.

Together, we crossed the finish line. We trained as a team. We started as a team. We finished as a Team.

When the day started, the goal was 3 hours, 30 minutes. The day ended with a time of 4 hours, 23 minutes, and 48 seconds (47 seconds for Tim).

An amazing day. A brutal day. A memorable day. A day that I owe to Jodie my wife for putting up with all my training this year. A day I owe to our son and his smiles that fill my head when spirits drop. A day I owe to Jodie's sister, My parents, to Tim's family, to Forrest, and to hundreds, no thousands of cheering spectators that braved the heat and humidity to cheer us and everyone else on. A day I owe to our Lord and Savior for giving me the blessing of strength to carry on and persevere. A day that was without question, full of Hope, Sacrifice, and Purpose.

And I would be remiss if I didn't thank the Angel that stood by me when I needed it most. My training partner, my Brother. Thank you Tim. Without you, I do not finish that race. You are an amazing, and inspirational man. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you man...