The Race That Is Set Before Us

I found the running community’s reaction to the interview with Ryan Hall in the September issue of Runner’s World really interesting. If you haven’t read the interview you really should.

Hall, an Olympic marathoner and solid record-breaker, is the only American to run the half marathon in under an hour (59:43).  He’s also a born-again Christian who believes that he was personally called by God to run.

In the interview, he describes his very first run with his father in which he circumnavigated Big Bear Lake in his basketball shoes.  As he puts it, “ At that point, the trajectory of my life completely changed.  All of a sudden, I stopped doing basketball and football and started running.  It was at that point that Jesus really became my friend.  That’s when our relationship took off…and it was a direct result of him bringing running into my life.” God evidently had other plans for Ryan in last summer’s Olympic Games.  Dubbed “Ryan’s Run for Glory,” he ended up placing 10^th in the Marathon and came home sans medals.  Such are the trials of the faithful.

But what I found fascinating were the mixed reactions to the story.  Evidently, the magazine received very mixed reactions to the piece and in a subsequent Runner’s World Readers Poll respondents said they…

What’s the definition of a Jesus Freak?  According to Wikipedia, “Jesus Freak” was initially a pejorative term for those involved in the Jesus movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was quickly embraced by them and soon broadened to describe a Christian subculture throughout the hippie and back-to-the-land movements that focused on universal love and pacifism, and relished the radical nature of Jesus' message. Mmm…universal love and pacifism…definitely don’t want to be associated with that.

Anyway, there are no accidents in the universe.  Driving home from the grocery store this afternoon I heard a piece on the radio in which it was revealed that President W. holds a weekly conference call every Wednesday with 10 leaders of the largest evangelical churches in the county.  George Bush is a runner, isn’t he?  What do you think he talks about with them?  His last training run?

As I was driving, and listening to this piece, I realized I was on a road that I frequently run.  There’s a Baptist Church that I pass along the way, so I stopped and took a picture of the sign out in front.  I tagged it to this post: “Exercise Daily…Walk with The Lord.”

So when I got home, I Googled “Christian Runners.” I discovered that there are several groups out there who consider themselves Christian running groups.  One of the largest and best organized is christinarunners.org, (“Utilizing God’s gift of running to further His Kingdom through fellowship, community, service, and giving.”)  Their site features a Flash presentation of biblical quotes that feature running:

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:16b
I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. Psalm 119:32

Where is all this going?  I don’t really know. But if you want to get a sense of how many folks out there identify as “Christian runners” Google for yourself, or visit the Christian runners thread on coolrunning.com.  I leave you with a sample post:

There's a compelling and building body of evidence suggesting God favours Christian runners.

This brings to mind a few questions.

(Olympic Gold Medalist) Hicham El Guerrouj and Khalid Khannouchi are Muslim. While they technically worship the same God, they only accept Christ as a prophet and not their Personal Saviour.

If they convert to Christianity, might they regain their former World Records?

What kind of time can I expect to shave off my own marathon PR? Would some Denominations work better than others?

For example, would I run better as a Catholic or Protestant? Is Mormonism or Jehovah's Witness be an option?

Please don't make fun of me. This is a serious training question.

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