Running My First 5K Race!

This past Monday I ran my first 5K Race. Back in June I decided I wanted to give myself a new challenge and start running. So, I began training to run our town’s annual Labor Day 5K.  After about a month of training, both on the treadmill and on the boardwalk, I could run the 3.1 miles necessary to complete the race. In fact, by July 4^th I could run 4 miles with my son, Nathaniel.  Now it was time to get my 5K time down below 30 minutes, then below 29 minutes; my goal was to run the race at a 9 minute pace.   In the end, not only did I want to complete the 5K, but to do so within a particular timeframe. 

A few days before the race, my friend Gary offered to run with me. It was great to have someone to run alongside of me and push my pace a bit.  As we came down the final stretch, Gary encouraged me to give a final push.  I wasn’t sure how much more I could give, but then I heard the cheering of the crowd up ahead and eventually saw Kim and Gary’s wife Karen by the finish line cheering us on. That was what I needed. So, as we came down that final stretch, I felt myself kick into a gear beyond what I thought my body was able to do.  Before I knew it, I had finished my first 5K Race!

Coming to the finish line!

The New Testament likens our life of faith to a long distance race—a race that takes great perseverance, a race that sometimes requires us to kick it into “high gear.”  Paul encourages the Corinthian believers saying, “Run in such a way as to get the prize.”  (1 Corinthians 9:24 – NIV) The book of Hebrews says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us….” (Hebrews 12:1 – NIV)

Much unlike my mindset, the goal of this “race” of faith is not the speed of the race but the completion of the race. The Bible encourages us to keep on running, believing that everyone who crosses this finish line will receive a reward, the prize of eternal life.  And, it gives to us a picture of the runners being cheered on by a heavenly crowd. The stadium of heaven is filled with those who have gone on before us encouraging us to keep on running till we too cross the finish line.  In the end, it’s all about finishing the race!

In case you’re wondering, in spite of all my training, Gary’s help, and the cheering of the crowd, I didn’t quite run at my goal pace.  (I ran a 9:14 pace for a total of 28:38 minutes.).  Yet, I was really happy to be able to do something I could not have done a year earlier: I finished the race!

Let’s be like the Apostle Paul who could write at the end of his life, “…I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  (2 Timothy 4:7 – NIV)

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris