PUT YOUR SHOES ON, FOR THE GROUND YOU ARE ON IS HOLY! (I wrote this a couple of weeks ago when it was fresh in my mind and I lost it, this is my attempted re-creation, which will probably fall well short of the original!)

I had the fortunate experience of attending the Marine Corp. Marathon in Washington D.C. I would have wanted to watch this inspiring event even if my brother-in-law and two sisters were not running. Their competing, however, made the event much more exciting. I was standing somewhere around mile 25.5 (entire race is 26.2 miles) when I saw Eric coming through. He was one of the top finishers. I knew he would do this well, so I was not surprised. Nevertheless, it was still an amazing feat.

My friend and I then set out to cheer for my sister and others. I probably went somewhere between miles 24 and 25 to wait for Colleen. I knew that she was doing well, because I had other siblings tracking her on-line and they would call me and tell me where she was on the course. When I saw her though, the pain was evident by her posture and facial expression. I thought to myself, she is about to finish a marathon, and all I can do for her is a 5 second, "come on you can do it" accompanied by a clap? It seemed kind of shallow to me, so I began to jog alongside her. Actually we were about ten feet apart separated by the median strip. I encouraged her as often as I could weaving in and out of the throng of spectators. I wondered if I was helping her or annoying her to death, but I chose to continue. Finally, she reached a sharp turn and ascended up a steep hill to finish the last quarter mile. I stopped to watch her run up the hill and then went to find her at the finish line. When I saw her, we embraced and it was one of those moments when nothing needed to be said, (although she repeatedly thanked me). We had shared a moment that would be etched in our memories forever.

Kelley was the last family member that we were waiting for. She probably should not have run after suffering a knee injury a couple of weeks earlier. However, she trained so hard that you couldn’t blame her for wanting to do it. We knew that she was going relatively slow and was probably in a lot of pain. Her pace would slow and then quicken which signified that she was probably in a lot of pain. When she was at about mile 21, I decided to run the course backward and go find her. I saw her at mile 23 and we ran/walked the rest of the race together.

I concluded in my time out there that marathon territory is sacred ground. Thousands and thousands of people choose to put themselves through physical, mental, and emotional pain to achieve a goal. Their common struggle and common pain unites them in a powerful way, that for at least a short few hours, they are a fraternity of sorts. So often I saw people forget about their own pain momentarily to encourage someone else, or to lift a fallen runner. I realized the power and beauty of becoming vulnerable through pain, as well as the joy of being there for the one in pain. Marathon territory is sacred because what I witnessed out there was on some level, the actualization of God’s desire for his creation. One day, I hope to run this great race in its entirety, but this day had a different purpose, and I was glad I was there to experience it.