I took the day off today. Had good intentions to run in the morning. I awoke at 4:00 a.m., rolled out of bed, and in one step realized I wouldn't be running this morning! However, the legs soon loosened up, and I feel great. Nonetheless, I opted for a day off and decided to go into the Dallas office to work early.
When I got home at night, I had the greatest email. At the start of the White Rock Marathon, I saw some guy with a yellow FCA Endurance (Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Team Endurance) tri jersey. I know some guys from FCA Endurance that I met at the International Christian Triathlon Network camp in Arizona last January: Chris Anderson and Stan Smith. Chris is from Burnsville, MN, and heads the FCA Endurance, Minnesota. It turns out that this guy I saw at the start line - his name was Aaron - knew both of them as well. We had a nice short chat, and were soon off in the race. What are the odds that I would run into him at the start of a marathon with well over 3500 competitors?
Anyway, when I got home last night, I had an email from Chris Anderson (FCA Endurance, Minnesota). It turns out that Aaron emailed Chris about me, but couldn't remember my name. He knew I had a sub-3:00 goal, so he looked through the results for people from MN with a sub-3:00 finish. He narrowed it down to myself, Dick Beardsley, and two guys who were slightly over 3:00 (Aaron didn't know Dick Beardsley, but for me it was quite an honor to be included in the same list as the Grandma's Marathon record holder and 2nd place Boston finisher in the famous 1982 Boston Duel; Dick ran a 2:49 in Dallas, 6 minutes ahead of me, 15 years older!). Chris informed him that the guy Aaron talked to at the start was indeed me, not Dick. Aaron signed his email to Chris with "Acts 20:24", a verse that many of you know as my life application verse, posted at the top of my blog.
It's funny how a group like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes can be used to make our world seem so much smaller and unified. I'd like to congratulate Aaron on a great marathon finish, and I look forward to again seeing you at our ultimate finish line.
Leave a comment