I’m starting my birthday right, watching the Boston Marathon and remembering my own marathon experience two years ago. To celebrate/deny my 40th birthday, I ran the Carmel (Indiana) Marathon on April 16, 2016. It was my first; I’m confident it won’t be my last. The feeling of crossing that finishing line after 26.2 miles is a feeling I need in my life.
After I gave birth to Aidan, our oldest, I believed I could do ANYTHING! Aidan was born at home (intentionally!), and laboring to bring him into the world was a marathon in itself! When he weighed in at 10.5 pounds, I was simply amazed by what I had accomplished. Finishing the Carmel Marathon is the only experience I’ve had that has even come close to comparing.
I am a slow runner, but Carmel had an element to their race that I thought I could actually be competitive in. As a way of recognizing strong finishers, the three runners who recorded the biggest difference between their overall pace and their last half-mile split would receive cash prizes.
I was confident I could finish strong, until I actually crossed over the timing mat marking the start of the last half-mile and realized that most of the finish would be uphill. My first instinct was to give up on my goal of finishing strong. But then memory kicked in.
In high school, I ran cross country. I hated races, as I was always finishing toward the very back of the pack. But I remembered, on that Carmel hill, that hills were the one place where I could always manage to pass someone. That memory was enough to spur me forward. I finished as strong as I possibly could. I barely missed earning a cash prize, coming in 4th with a 3:39 difference (it helped significantly that my overall pace was so SLOW)!
I had been listening to podcasts through the race, but in that last stretch I had music playing. Lady Gaga’s Born This Way blared in my ears as I crossed the finish line: Don’t hide yourself in regret. Just love yourself and you’re set. I’m on the right track, baby, I was born this way. It seemed so fitting for a birthday race. Overwhelmed with emotion, I told the dear woman who placed the medal around my neck, It’s my 40th birthday, and this is my first marathon! That lovely volunteer congratulated me as wholeheartedly as if she she had known me my whole life. 
In a world where we are confronted by so many difficult situations that come to us unbidden, situations over which we have no control, there’s something to be said for difficult situations that we choose to enter into.
We benefit from freely chosen challenges that reveal how resilient we truly are, that show us what we’re capable of. So that when the unbidden challenges come, those memories can become our courage and fortitude.
Let’s talk. Please leave a comment. Tell me about your freely chosen challenges. Tell me about the memories that propel you forward when you’re faced with an overwhelming uphill climb. Tell me, so that in the telling you can be reminded how AMAZING you are!
Pastor Stacey, what a spectacular accomplishment, to attempt and finish a marathon! I get a side-ache just thinking about it (maybe PTSD about “track” in Jr. High P.E.). Happy Birthday🎈🎉🎂!
In 1983 I donated a kidney to my sister. It was scary because our children were 10 and 8 years old. Jerry said that he would be supportive no matter what I decided to do. So, I prayed about it and I received a calmness and “knowing” that it would be OK. The kidney worked well for my sister for almost 30 years.
Thank you so much for sharing the story of your kidney donation, Kristen! What an incredible gift to be able to give to your sister. I can relate to your experience of praying and receiving that sense of calm. God is so good. Thank you again for sharing!