Finish Lines

This past weekend I ran 19.3 miles. No, I was not chased. Yes, I paid for this endeavor. Yes, my legs are angry with my life choices.

I “competed” in the Wine and Dine Lumiere’s Two Course Challenge (say that three times fast!)

medals wine and dine

The two course challenge included a 10K (6.2 miles) on Saturday and a Half Marathon (13.1 miles) on Sunday. It also involved waking up at 2:30 am two days in a row to make it, along with 25,000 of my closest friends, to the starting line on time.

wine and dine lumiere candle

I dressed as Lumiere for one race, complete with flameless candles hot glued to my shoulders. I always have fun with the costuming portion of my races! The running… I get irritated with at some point! It was challenging. Parts of the runs were ugly. I was slower than I anticipated, but I was running toward a goal. And I wasn’t alone.

Not only was I surrounded by 25,000 fellow runners, but my dear friends were at the finish line. These sweet ladies, Laura and Betsy, woke up with me at 2:30, drove to Disney, slept in the car, met up with Nathan, and were ready to cheer as I crossed the finish line hours later.

This mattered.

No matter how ugly my race was, I wasn’t alone. I was running toward someone who loved me.

These are the object lessons that make me love running. I don’t always love putting one foot in front of the other for three hours, but I love how God uses this activity to remind me of truth. We are all running the race of life. Some parts will be easy. Some segments will be crowded. Others will be ugly, slow, and lonely. But it matters who is at your finish line. Who am I running towards? Because the answer to that question makes the entire race worth it.

Thanks, friends. You are delightful.

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