Lessons from competitive running

During my years in high school I grew to enjoy running so much that toward the end of my senior year, even though I wasn’t the best runner on our team, I was among the better middle-distance runners in the state in the division in which my school competed.

Underpinning my budding athletic career was a study and prayer routine I had launched at the start of my freshman year. I began considering how the truths I was learning in a Christian Science Sunday School shed new light on my studies and athletics. Using a Bible Concordance, I selected passages from the Bible that related to running and looked potentially helpful, wrote them down on index cards, and carried them with me to each cross-country and track meet I participated in. Before each race, I would separate myself from the other runners to pray—to listen for what God was communicating to me, and to affirm that it was God's presence, strength, and glory in which, with which, and for which I was running.

On many occasions, I asked a Christian Science practitioner to prayerfully support me during my meets, and Mary Baker Eddy’s statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action" (p. 454 ), was a constant source of inspiration.

This interest in running continued throughout college. At the start of the outdoor track season of my junior year, I committed myself to training twice a day in an effort to further lower my times and possibly improve, or even win, in the conference championships or set a school record. But despite the extra effort, I showed only modest improvement, felt sore or hurt much of the time, and didn't obtain the hoped-for goals.

I continued to pray, quietly listening for divine inspiration that would shift my focus and make my running more God-centered, and what unfolded was genuinely helpful, beautiful, and strengthening. Prior to my senior year, four significant goals came to thought, none of which depended on my running a specific time, earning a certain place in a race, or setting a record.

One: I would work hard when I needed to work hard. Two: I would rest when I needed to rest. Three: I would be grateful to God for the opportunity to run, for the freedom I felt, and for the beautiful scenery that surrounded me as I trained. Four: I would be grateful to God for those whom I ran with, rather than against, including not only my teammates and coaches, but also those from other schools.

In addition, I continued a practice that came to my thought earlier in collegiate running. Before races, instead of saying, "good luck" to fellow participants, I would say “do well," because I felt that, spiritually speaking, each of us is resourced by our Father-Mother, God, and our efforts are not merely human. We had divine support.

Soon I felt renewed and filled with hope. During the cross-country season, I won two races—my first victories in that sport—and went on to qualify for the national championships. Then, in the indoor track season, I set two school records.

Eventually we reached the two-day conference championships at the end of the season. Our head coach told me I needed to run the mile, but said I could choose my second event. I asked him for an hour to consider his offer, feeling that I really needed to ask God for guidance.

As I prayed, I reasoned that our Father-Mother doesn’t favor one of His children over another. He doesn’t pigeon-hole us, selecting only a chosen few for the A-grade. He is only good, and His infinite abundance is manifested in the spiritual nature of each of us. Rightly understood, we are His spiritual reflection, and are therefore free from the ignorances that would limit us to a merely material perspective on life.

As I jogged that day, I resolved not to let the false goal of personal glory deter me from being rightly motivated. I considered the four goals that had come to me the preceding summer, none of which was dependent on any specific place gained as to whether or not I would call the season successful. Up to this point, I had kept those goals intact, and in this last meet of my indoor collegiate career, I wasn’t going to change my motivation, which remained to glorify God.

I chose the two-mile, even though I had run it only once during the season. I reasoned that because it was the longest race, I would have the most time to enjoy it—more time to spend with God. With complete peace of mind, I told my coach what I’d decided. He questioned my choice, but didn’t ask me to change it.

It was God's presence, strength, and glory in which, with which, and for which I was running.

Our school was hosting the championships, so I felt free to go up to our locker room and write one of my favorite quotes from the Bible on the blackboard there. It was Isaiah 40:31 , which describes how God strengthens our endeavors. Little did I know that over the next several days a lot of information—lane assignments, heats, splits, messages—would be added around that quote.

Although I didn’t fully realize it at that time, what has subsequently become clear to me is that the work we do well now is what prepares and enables us for future successes. It’s so important for us to always act up to our highest understanding of God's requirements, and rest assured that He is guiding us right now. This moment, well handled, gives us the confidence to meet the test of future moments, firmly supported by our loving Father.

On the Friday afternoon of the preliminaries, I qualified for the finals in both the mile and the two-mile, setting personal records in both races. The next afternoon, after a few laps of physical and mental warm-up, I went with quiet confidence to the start of the mile. In a lively, close race, I won in a photo-finish, improving on my best time from the previous day. I was truly grateful for the experience, and especially for the keen, fair competition with the other runners.

That sense of gratitude carried over to the two-mile event, which came later. With about 300 yards left in the race, and running second, though well behind the leader, I was passed by another runner. Instantly, I responded mentally: "I will not feel sorry for myself. I know why I chose this race." All sense of fatigue dropped away, and I began to sprint. I passed the runner who had just passed me and continued fast and strong until the end, overtaking the leader near the finish. Each of my four goals for the season had been fulfilled!

When I returned to our locker room after the meet, nothing remained on the blackboard except the words from Isaiah I had written there two days earlier. Whenever I think of that experience, I am grateful to God for His unfailing support: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31 ).