An overriding theme of the past six months of my life has been races. In January of 2008, I began training for the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville. I decided to take a class at Belmont for one of my electives to help me train in the best way possible. I’m kind of a procrastinator, so the race kind of snuck up on me… My longest run had been 6 miles… not even half of the 13.1 I had to run on April 26. At my last class meeting before the race, my coach was going around the room high-fiving each of us and telling us that we were going to do great. He got around to me and said “well, its going to be a mystery whether you’ll finish or not.” 
Turns out… I did finish the race- in 3 minutes less than my goal!
You might be wondering what this has to do with the World Race, but as I prepare for October by raising financial and prayer support, I realized that there were many similarities. I couldn’t have finished the half marathon on my own. My little sister flew from Dallas to Nashville to run it with me.
My roommate woke up at 5 in the morning to be out there with another of our friends, Claire, and my puppy to cheer for us, and it was such a wonderful feeling to know that somewhere along the way -even though she wasn’t physically running with me- she was supporting me. Then a few miles later, when Jennifer and I were getting tired, my friend Johnny started running with us. He wasn’t tired like we were, and I know that without his enthusiasm and encouragement, we would have wanted to give up. He finished the race with us. 
About a mile before the finish line, my friend Meredith saw me coming and ran with me for a little while. Its amazing how, even though I was absolutely exhausted, just having someone to take those steps with me and remind me that the end is in sight gave me a burst of energy.
“I thank my God everytime I remember you.” — Philippians 1:3
I know that I will not be able to go on the World Race without the encouragement and prayers of my friends and family at home. I am so excited for September 28th and can’t wait to go!! God has already blessed me with people who are being so supportive of me… it means a whole lot and I know that I cannot do it without you!
