the extra mile.

i awoke this morning to the sound of rain and hard wind with a mix of lightning and thunder.

at 6:30 a.m., i hear mom's voice as she quietly comes through my bedroom door:

"so, what do you think?"

"i don't know....what do you think?"

i had payed the entry fee a few days before and was supposed to run in the hope inspired ministries 5k + 1 mile.

we both sneak downstairs without waking daddy and i check the weather radar.

it's iffy.

it seemed to have been calming down a bit outside so we decide to head to the starting line at the armory.

we all get dressed and grab our rain jackets.

i grab a breakfast of peanut butter and pretzels to go.

we arrive and it's misting.

we see a few lightning strikes and hear the rumble of thunder.

the race is supposed to begin at 8:30.

it is put off until 9:30.

they finally decide on 9:45 for the time to begin the race.

by this time, the rain had stopped and was cloudy with a slight coolness in the air.

perfect for running.

the horn buzzed and the runners were off.

a huge downhill was at the beginning...so nice!

but then the monsters came.

uphill challenges awaited the runners.

i would make it halfway up a gigantic hill and would fast-walk the rest of the mountain.

out of all the hills we conquered, twice i had to walk up the monstrous hills.

boy, were they some doozy's.

and then downhill we would go...

(ahhhh. so nice.)

mile 1, 2, 3, 4....

up again....down again....

at one point in the race, i had to wait for a firetruck (with sirens blaring) to pass before crossing the road.

(never had that happen before. haha!)

at the end of mile 4, i could see mom walking towards me on the downtown sidewalk.

encouraging me to keep at it, she ran along side me the last few yards. daddy soon appeared and cheered me to the finish.

my time flashed as i sprinted across the finish line:

45:20.

yet again i was so thankful for the ability to be able to have the health to run...

and tackle the uphill hills.

God is good.

as we waited for the awards to be handed to the winners, we enjoyed time chatting with our runner friends.

and then the sun came out.

(God, you're so amazing.)

the award ceremony began and names were called.

age division 20-29.

third place....

second place...

first place...marli reese.

i was overwhelmed with thankfulness.

being able to "go the extra mile" in today's race made me think about how we ought to be going to the extra mile in our everyday lives.

99% or 25% just isn't good enough.

we should give our all--plus some.

yeah sure, 100% is nice, but how about going further? 

i pray that we'll all be able to go beyond 100%.

run that extra mile.

you can do it.

Stats for Hope Inspired Ministries 5k plus one mile:

Total Time: 45:20

Age Division: 20-29

Place: 1st out of the 3 in my age division

Overall Place: 28 out of 68 runners

Pace: 10:48