God humored me as I stepped out of the dorms early morning
on Saturday, July 28. Dark clouds
billowed in the distance over Lake Erie and to the west thick gray clouds
hovered, threatening rain. The sun
peaked out between the clouds in the east and I wondered if it would again rain
like it did at the half marathon.
The race would take place at Asbury Woods, near Brown’s
Farm. While I was unfamiliar with
Brown’s Farm, I knew Asbury Woods very well.
Since I discovered it last autumn, I have often walked through the
woods, waded through the gentle rapids of Walnut Creek and have seen a variety
of wildlife, including four curious little raccoon cubs. So I was excited to run this race.
Though the race started at 9am, the email declaring my entry
said to arrive at 7am to avoid the rush and pick up my packet. Well, I arrived fifteen minutes after 7am
and certainly avoided the crowd. Only
two other people stood there waiting with me while the Asbury Woods crew
continued to hammer in ‘No Parking’ signs and set up the registration
table. I guess there’s nothing like
being a little early.
The course around Asbury Woods looked complicated on the
map, so I had ample time to study it and ask questions. Then I walked a half of a mile into the
course to make sure I understood the turns. A handful of rabbits nibbling an
early morning breakfast of grasses perked their ears up as I passed by. The course was laid out in a figure 8
between two fields and a trail path in the woods.
Then it rained. I
took shelter under a tree for a couple minutes but quickly realized it was not
going to let up. In fact, the steady
down pour quickly produced puddles and little streams of water. I walked quickly back to the pavilion and
took refuge underneath it with the other runners. Someone in a megaphone announced, “The race will continue as
scheduled unless there is thunder and lightning.”
As if on a divine cue lightning flashed and thunder rumbled
overhead. The man went on the megaphone
again and urged all fifty or so people to squeeze into the small pavilion. I stood near the edge next to someone who
resembled Clark Kent (secret identity of Superman), glasses and all. “Well,” I thought, “now I’ll have to run
against Superman.”
As the rain poured and cascaded over the roof, we huddled
together underneath our shelter. A man
with a goatee made the comment, “I prayed that it would not be hot and sunny
today but this isn’t what I meant.”
They way he and his friend carried on their conversation I
guessed correctly that they were Christians.
So in a little while we shared our favorite Bible verses and passages
and talked about some other odds and ends.
I was glad for this as we waited for the rain to let up and the race to
begin.
I will say no more about the waiting, except that we waited,
huddled and chatted with each other for about 45 minutes. Finally, it ended and we took our positions
to begin the race. At Presque Isle we
formed one large line as wide as the road and several runners back; however,
here at Asbury Woods we lined up in a single battle array as if we were all
going to charge up the grassy slope and meet an enemy over the hill. No one started as second or third, we all
started first.
The man with the megaphone signaled and the race began.
This race was different then the half marathon. For one thing, I ran on grass and trails as
opposed to the asphalt. And you might
quickly suspect that grass is quite slippery when wet. As I made my first loop and came down the
first little hill, which was rather steep, I said to someone, “Maybe we should
just slide down the hill.” I almost
did! I slipped but caught myself. A new obstacle greeted me as I reached the
bottom of the hill: the rain formed a long, little lake on the path. I sloshed through them and would do so again
two more times. At the top of the
fields I encountered more puddles and rivers of water formed by the
rainfall.
Mile two brought me into the foggy woods along a muddy trail
on the Walnut Creek ridge. Every once
in a while I heard the drip of water from the leaves or an occasional bird
chirp as I dodged yet another mud puddle and splashed through a smaller
one. I remember the magnetic attraction
mud puddles had towards me when I was a kid.
For some reason they drew me near to jump in, play in or splash around
in. And now many years older, I
splashed through them again.
The third mile was a repeat of miles one and two, except
that the later part of it cut through the middle of the field towards the
finish line. At that juncture I
sprinted to the end and finished, satisfied with how I did.
They later held the awards ceremony at the same pavilion we
huddled under only an hour before. I
stayed even though I had many other things to do back at the dorms. I watched as the over-all winners received
their medallions. Then they began to
hand out medals for the different age groups, beginning with the grade school
children, junior high kids and the teenagers/young adults. I waited in anticipation when it came to my
age group, the 25-40 yrs old. They
started with the 10th place and worked their way up. Sixth, fifth, fourth, third and in second
place in my age group, they called my name!
So I received my silver medallion with joy—joy that I ran
the race and finished the course, even though I was very wet and muddy at the
end. Someday, when all is said and
done, I will complete the race here on earth and stand before my God, the Judge
of all the earth. Though I will not
receive a medal as such, I hope to here the words, “Well done my good and
faithful servant. You have been
faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Welcome home, Jeffrey. Enter into the joy of your Master.”
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