I thought to myself as I descended down the cement path into the quiet of the tunnel that would lead me into the Birds Nest. I had never been into the Olympic Stadium before but I had run through this tunnel thousands of times in my minds eye during training. For the past decade, whenever I ran through a tunnel I would always picture myself running into the Olympic Stadium, of course, in my dream world I was always winning the marathon, not struggling n 10th place. Nevertheless, as I made my way into the stadium I decided I would enjoy the moment. My eyes circled around the stadium in amazement. This is what I pictured heaven to be like.
Coming down the homestretch I saw a sea of red shirts that made up a group of 15 or so of my family members wearing the Hall Believe t-shirts. I waved to them as a sign of appreciation for all they had supported me through. It was comforting to see my family. It had been a difficult two hours and twelve minutes of running and this final stage of my Olympic marathon would be somewhat of a consolation. As it turned out it was one of the most memorable moments of my life.
My watch read 3:13 am when I first opened my eyes on August 24th. I had set my alarm for 4:30 am to be ready in time for the 7:30 am start but this was the day I had been waiting for my whole life and I was glad to have the night passed over and the day at hand. About half an hour after I woke up I heard a loud booming noise outside. I looked out the window and saw the most freakish lightening storm I had ever seen.
In hindsight I speculate that the Chinese may have seeded the sky because it was a super intense storm with lightening flashing brightly across the dawn sky for about ten minutes then there was torrential rain for two minutes and then it just seemed to vanish out of no where. It seems too random that there would be a freak thunderstorm just three hours before the start of the Olympic marathon. Regardless, I was glad for the clear skies and somewhat cooler temperatures.
We headed out to Tieneman Square on a bus at 5:30 am. The atmosphere was buzzing. I jogged for seven minutes with Dathan and Brian. The mood was lighthearted as we circled around on the cobblestones near the starting line. The temperature was slowly starting to rise so we slapped on our ice vests in an attempt to keep our core temperature low.
Finally I was here. After years of struggle and wanting to throw in the towel I had made it to the start of the Olympic marathon. I took a minute to remember all the American guys back at home that hoped to be on the starting line. I wanted to do my best to represent them well. I fell to one knee and prayed, “Lord, I will do my very best for you no matter what happens out there.” A few minutes later the gun fired.
From the very first hundred meters Samuel Wanjiru, of Kenya, made it clear that he was feeling good. He sprinted straight to the front and asserted a fast pace. During those opening kilometers I was forced to make a tough decision: either go with the leaders and hope that I wasn’t committing suicide or try and win by out smarting the lead pack knowing that they had gone out too hard and wait for them to slow in the later stages.
I knew that above all I had to listen to my body, the pace felt fast and my breathing felt heavy, and when I finally saw the first 5k split (I never saw a mile or kilometer split before 5k) of just over 15 minutes I knew that I couldn’t go out any harder than I was running. I also knew that if I kept running three minutes per kilometer I would win the race, however, much to my surprise three minutes per kilometer would have only earned me the silver medal.
I figured the best plan was to run similarly to how I raced the World Road Running Championships in 2006 when I went out way slower than the leaders and worked my way up to a top ten finish. I saw my coach at 10k and he affirmed that the leaders went out too hard. He was right, the leaders did go out at a pace that they couldn’t hold to the finish, but unfortunately for me, even before I hit the half way point I felt my legs tiring and tightening. I just wasn’t as fluid or strong as I had been in previous marathons.
By 30k I pretty much knew, by the sight of the helicopter in the distance following the leaders that I was slowing down more than the leaders. There would be no medals for me this time around. I set my mind on the only thing I could still accomplish in the race: giving 100% of all that I had on the day. I may not have my “A” game but I was determined to give all of whatever game I brought on the day.
In hindsight I wish that I had gone out with the leaders and just hung as long as possible. I think the way I ran was smarter and probably did yield a higher finish than if I had gone out two minutes harder for the opening half, but part of me also wonders if I would have been more excited being with the leaders and been able to rally with some supernatural strength and pull off a medal.
Although, if I would have blown up I know I would have been telling myself that if I would have just went out slower I could have held the pace all the way to the line. In the end, I wasn’t physically on top of my game. I had put in a lot of hard work but for whatever reason my training hadn’t been nearly as quality as in my previous marathons. I was running my tempo runs 10-15 seconds slower than my typical. As an athlete this can be hard to swallow. When the big day arrives I want to have my very best, so naturally it is disappointing to only have my B, or C, game.
After the race the disappointment was setting in, especially when I saw how fast Sammy ran. I couldn’t believe that 2:06 was possible in those conditions. He clearly owned the day. It was also disappointing because I knew I had run with those guys before and had been able to hang till late, yet today I was six minutes back and six minutes back from my personal best.
It is going to take some time to figure out why my preparations weren’t as good as typical. Was it the pressure and anticipation of my first Olympics? Was it living apart from Sara? Am I just not as good as others in the heat and humidity? Was I trying too hard in practice or not trying hard enough? Did I not take enough time off after London? Should I have run London? The hard part about running is there are so many variables that come into play. Trying to identify the ones that really impacted your performance on the day can make your head spin.
A little less than twelve hours after I ran into the Olympic stadium I hobbled back in to take part in the closing ceremonies. I stood just feet away from the three marathon medalist as they were presented their medals to kick off the closing ceremonies. At first I was bitter, I had worked so hard, sacrificed so much, and wanted so badly to be up there, but by the time the Kenyan national anthem had finished its last note my bitterness had melted into inspiration. I could see myself up on that podium. I know that it is possible with God, but even if it is not God’s will for my life I will still praise Him and make the most of the gifts He has given me. What the Olympics has taught me is that I need to live a life surrendered to the will of God. It is my prayer that I will be able to have the same heart as Christ before He was nailed to the cross, “not my will, but Your will be done.”
163. Rebecca Gilbert 42 38:58 Male Winner Melvin Lusk 21:34
164. Liza Sutherland 41 42:22 Kevin Worrell 22:43
165. Bill Midkiff 62 43:06 Jeff Brooks 22:50
166. Carla Midkiff-Frost 40 43:07 Brian Reavis 23:13
167. Loretta Vaughan 62 43:25 Earl Johnson 24:33
168. Bill Hastings 73 43:42 John Garvey 25:13
169. Teresa Dickens 39 45:21 Gary Isom 25:47
170. Clarence Cropps 56 45:46 Mike Hash 26:29
171. Donna Stone 39 45:47 Kager Brewer 27:23
172. Sara Sirk 10 48:05 Oliver McBride 32:06
173. Rhonda McMillian 56 48:43 Darrin Alley 36:58
174. Jeron DeBoe 65 52:30
Mom took first place in her division
Kenneth beat me in 2007 also!
Sussie still says she will beat me in a race, WHEN?
I must like 4th place!
Mom on the Run!
I will have results and pictures up soon for 2008. Kenneth beat me again this year but we both had better clock times. mom took 2nd place in her age group and will work hard for 1st again in 2009. Sussie still hasn’t beat me in a race. Misty pushed Samuel in the stroller, it was Samuel’s first 5K and Misty’s first one since we were married. It is strange, she liked to run before we were married. Steve Martin did a great job and has beaten me in every race but then he is younget than I am. Dustin did a great job and won 2nd place in his division. Alex and Kyle ran the kids run and did great, Alex won 2nd in the mal division.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’a”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’b”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
JOHN WESLEY, born as he was in 1703 and dying as he did in 1791, covers as nearly as mortal man may, the whole of the eighteenth century, of which he was one of the most typical and certainly the most strenuous figures.
He began his published Journal on October 14, 1735, and its last entry is under date Sunday, October 24, 1790, when in the morning he explained to a numerous congregation in Spitalfields Church “The Whole Armor of God,” and in the afternoon enforced to a still larger audience in St. Paul’s, Shadwell, the great truth, “One thing is needful,” the last words of the Journal being “I hope many even then resolved to choose the better part.”
Between those two Octobers there lies the most amazing record of human exertion ever penned or endured.
I do not know whether I am likely to have among my readers anyone who has ever contested an English or Scottish county in a parliamentary election since household suffrage. If I have, that tired soul will know how severe is the strain of its three weeks, and how impossible it seemed at the end of the first week that you should be able to keep it going for another fortnight, and how when the last night arrived you felt that had the strife been accidentally prolonged another seven days you must have perished by the wayside.
Contesting the Three Kingdoms
Well, John Wesley contested the three kingdoms in the cause of Christ during a campaign which lasted forty years.
He did it for the most part on horseback. He paid more turnpikes than any man who ever bestrode a beast. Eight thousand miles was his annual record for many a long year, during each of which he seldom preached less frequently than one thousand times. Had he but preserved his scores at all the inns where he lodged, they would have made by themselves a history of prices. And throughout it all he never knew what depression of spirits meant—though he had much to try him, suits in chancery and a jealous wife.
In the course of this unparalleled contest Wesley visited again and again the most out-of-the-way districts—the remotest corners of England—places which today lie far removed even from the searcher after the picturesque.
Today, when the map of England looks like a gridiron of railways, none but the sturdiest of pedestrians, the most determined of cyclists can retrace the steps of Wesley and his horse, and stand by the rocks and the natural amphitheaters in Cornwall and Northumberland, in Lancashire and Berkshire, where he preached his gospel to the heathen.
I am the Planting Pastor of Out of the Box Worship Center and I also serve as the Associate Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Hillsville Virginia. We are a Multi Site Church, one church in multiple locations. Our 1st campus is located at 225 Fulcher Street in Hillsville Virginia. Our 2nd location is on Main Street in Hillsville, FUMC Downtown, Out of the Box Worship Center, and our 3rd location is 522 North Main Street in Hillsville and this is our Youth Ministry Center, FUMC Downtown “Out of the Box”, Youth Ministry. The most recent ministry we have is “Out Of The Box Worship Center” and we are located at 516 North Main Street Hillsville. This site is now my main focus, along with the Youth Ministry.
I have a Passion to see hurting people come to know Jesus Christ. I believe that we as Christians have to demonstrate God’s Love to the world, rather than just telling them they are loved. I am married and have 3 sons two very special nephews that are like sons, 3 grandchildren, 5 great nephews, and one great niece that are like grandchildren. I am a blessed man.
I attended school at Carroll County High School, Wytheville Community College, Liberty University, and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
