The Good Race

 

            This is the story of two young Virginia girls who live normal lives and thought they might be able to do something to help someone else while they were at it. It's a simple story, but it's mine. My name is Christina.

            Among several other nearly impossible & life-altering aspirations, one of my top 10 lifetime dreams has been to run a marathon. So, you may ask, why run 26.2 miles? What's the draw? Perhaps because I come from a family of runners and my own father has run marathons, even finishing one in 2 hours, 41 minutes (and 13 seconds), I think I can do the same. Yeah, fat chance... literally. Or perhaps the the original marathoner Pheidippides back in fifth century, B.C. Greece made it look cool. Not so much. For Pheidippides his marathon was very life-altering; he died. Not quite what I had in mind. For my good friend Sandi Wilbur & I, running a marathon was the chance to fulfill lifelong dreams AND do a little good in the meantime. And as always, God's provisions exceeded our expectations.

            In June of 2008, my Sabbath School buddy Sandi asked if I'd train for the Mount Desert Island Marathon with her. She planned to run only one marathon in her lifetime and thus the race had to be chosen carefully. Forget beginner's category marathons, she wanted to do the “Most scenic marathon in the US” which was the MDI Marathon in Maine. Never mind that it was also named “Big Sur East” (Big Sur is a hard marathon in California) and was considered by some to be technically more challenging than the Boston Marathon. Sandi was out for scenery, so scenery it was.

            We started training. The Internet provided any number of training guides and tips as Sandi & I pieced together programs suitable for each of us. Trips to the VA Runner shop provided us with shoes and other paraphernalia as we geared up to be “real athletes”. Sandi introduced me to the lifesaving technology of GU energy gels while I tried to sell her on the unmatchable virtues of ibuprofen. Sandi carried a liter or two of water or Gatorade in a Camelbak and would share with me as the going got tough. One hot day we stopped at Hardee's for a quick cold drink and a pit stop and then were back pounding the pavement. Our training schedule during the week found us running around our respective neighborhoods, downtown, at the gym, at area parks, hiking trails. Once a week, Sandi & I would meet up for a higher mileage training run; the comradery helped the time go by faster.

            As training increased, Sandi & I started talking about using our marathon to raise money for some good cause. Looking at other competitions, I'd seen races to benefit leukemia or breast cancer societies. I wondered if we might use our race to do some good too. As we contemplated our options, an idea came to me. Instead of running to raise money for some big organization that takes the money and you don't know where it goes or how it helps, why not a more personal and close-to-home cause where we can see our efforts at work? And so, we adopted the idea of starting a fund to help complete a medical clinic for an under served patient population in the Philippines. We talked to our church treasurer who was more than happy to help with our idea. The Marathon Medical Clinic Fund was born and we set about making our dream come true.

             It just so happened that the particular under-served Philippine population is where my parents' serve as AFM missionaries and the clinic we were raising money for was their mission hospital. What a great idea! My parents thought it was. When I wrote them an email to tell them about our plan, they were thrilled at the prospect of finally being able to finish their much-needed medical clinic. A ???? square-foot clinic to one day be complete with tin roof, wood floor, electricity, running water, and room enough for patient exam rooms as well as in-patients had been started about ??? years before from funds donated through a church. The gift of $5000 had brought the clinic to a half-finished and not-yet-functional state, and an additional $5000 was needed to finish and open it for patient care. (You won't believe this, but my parents have been working from the same bamboo & thatch-roof clinic hut for the past 12 years. How many times do American companies upgrade their facilities in that time-period? On a missionary budget, my parents and their predecessors have not had that luxury. Sandi & I were excited that we could help get this new building finished and opened for the Palawano people.) 

            We put together a presentation for our Sabbath School class at the Fredericksburg SDA Church. We sent letters to friends and family saying “Hey, sponsor us for our marathon and the money goes to an overseas medical clinic.” Cool, right? A lot of our friends & family thought it was. Fredericksburg Church received our presentation with comments like, “This is the first project I've ever really wanted to donate to,” and testimonies of, “I picked up a blank check on the way out the door and I didn't know why; now I do!” Wow, praise God! The money started coming in and our eyes got really big. Sandi was so excited that she upped our fund-raising goal from a measly $1000 to the entire $5000! I thought she was pretty crazy, but why not try? We had nothing to lose. 

            As pledges and donations continued to roll in we got ourselves together for the big day and traveled to Maine. It was gorgeous just like Sandi had said. Forests, autumn colors, lakes, the ocean, mountains, and lots of moss, which I love. Our big day, October 19, dawned bright and clear... and COLD! (We reached the starting line moments before the gun blast. As we trotted out to make personal histories, Sandi smiled profusely and chatted with other contestants while I focused on running. Around mile 21, as the smiling Sandi swept past me, I stifled the urge to call after her to hold her horses and wait for me. I was really jealous that her legs were working better than mine at that point.   I ran limpingly (is that a word?) the last few miles and as I rounded the last bend and the end came into view, a wave of emotion suddenly came over me. I almost burst into tears as I crossed the finish line, realizing I'd completed one of my life-altering, nearly impossible lifelong dreams. Epic moment. Sandi & I rode the bus home, took showers, ate supper, and hobbled to bed. We could hardly walk the next but we were happy young limpers!

            Just a few weeks ago our faithful treasurer dropped us a line updating us with our tally of donations. Actual contributions totaled around $4300. We were amazed! God had really blessed more than we expected! Being so close to our $5000 goal though, I hated to close down the account and send the money. As I was contemplating, I opened my email and found a note from a former-missionary friend and her husband in Chile. “Looks like you need about $700 to reach your goal. Consider it done; we'll get the check in the mail this week”! I called Sandi directly at work with the amazing news and then woke my mom (3 am, her time) in the Philippines to say, “You can build your clinic now. God brought in all the money.” Looking over the donations she was nearly moved to tears by peoples' generosity.   This was sacrifice in a time of economic turmoil from people who realized that God's work must go on. We are all still praising God as we see how He honored our efforts and provided the needs of a little missionary project way out in the Philippine islands. For those of you who were a part of this: Thank you so much. You don't know how you have brought joy to our hearts and saved lives in the Philippines. Thank you.

             

P.S. Due to Sandi's vow to run only 1 marathon in her lifetime, I've lost my running partner for the MDI Marathon 2009. Any takers? :)