Bucket List Item: Half Marathon

6:30am Friday: Fly to North Carolina

10:30am Friday: Drive to South Carolina

4:30pm Friday: Great Dinner in Lexington 

8:00pm Friday: Early to bed

7:30am Saturday: The fast people start

7:40ish am Saturday: Us slow people start

13.1 miles, one potty break and rock in shoe x2

2 hours 53 min later: I FINISH

2:30pm Saturday: Drive back to North Carolina (our “travel agent” may not have realized which state were were running in...Lexington, N.C. or Lexington, S.C. Yikes!)

6:25pm Saturday: Fly to Nebraska

Melanie . Linda Boden . April Binder . Kim Weeks

Why did I do this you ask? It’s been a bucket list item for me since I tore my hamstrings off the bone back in 2017. My goal was to train and run the whole thing. Along comes my long time crazy Marathon running friend April, who basically begged me to go on this trip, promising me that it’s ok if I have to walk some. My fitness level did not allow me to run the full 13.1 miles. Plan to succeed they say, so my plan was to run .75 of each mile and walk .25. It was a good plan and for the most part that’s what I did...until Mile 11. At 10:13am I was ready to throw in the towel. That’s when some serious soul searching and total reliance on God kicked in. I made it up the last hill, down the straightaway to the baseball field and then the finish line was in sight. I wanted to stop but the desire to finish was stronger. April crossed the finish line 1 hour and 2 minutes before me. As I made my way under the arch, there she stood proudly cheering on her best friend. 

My face doesn’t show it but I was sooo nervous! 

My face doesn’t show it but my feet might fall off

Heaviest medal I have ever lifted

Got home to this precious girl and sign

Will I do it again? Not sure, but if I do I want to run it all!

 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭12:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬