My legs jump at the sound of the gun; I have never been more ready in my entire life for this race. The thunder of feet seems unreal yet is spurs some fire in me that gives me haste and fear. Everything is now. I have prepared for this race for months, with hundreds, perhaps even thousands of miles behind me. There are hundreds of other runners around me with the same fears, pains, and goals creating an aura of adrenaline.
It is only a few hundred meters into the race as our mass funnels into the narrow turn. Elbows go up and someones spike lands into my heel. As I round the turn, my coach sees me and calls out, his voice seems so distinct among the roar of the crowd. "Good pace Stephen, lock in and go!" His words drive me on for the next half mile.
But I know somewhere deep inside that that is just not true. I remember where I came from, how hard I have worked. Giving up is not an option now; this is the race of my life and I cannot let my team down. Each step I take is more pain, every breath I take is harder to swallow, and I know that it is only going to become worse. Yet this is not new to me. I have overcome before haven't I? What about when coach had us run hills till someone puked? What about those long runs where I knew from the beginning I could not make it another ten miles but I did with the encouragement form my team not letting me fall back? The difference now, I am alone.
At the two mile mark I hear my time 10:40. To my great surprise I am on pace for my personal record. I hear my coach again,"Your doing great but now you gotta go! Game time is over, you have to pick up the pace and catch their fifth man!"And there he is, the fifth man for Belvedere North just 20 meters or so ahead of me. A new energy fills me, a second wind. I feel my body switching gears as I dig deep for more strength, I have found it! I lock eyes on my target and push forward into the last mile, the pain beginning to numb.
I caught him. The adrenaline is now back and I swing wide around a pack of about 5 runners to pass him as we turn into the final quarter mile straightaway. But just as I begin to pass him he sees me and he does what I have been dreading he would do; he sprints. I watch in despair as he pulls away leaving a increasing gap between us. My body screams, the adrenaline is gone, my legs are engulfed in a burning fire. I am alone. I can't win, I know it.
But something inside me won't give. No, I did not come all this way to wave a whit flag in surrender to my enemies. I did not go through every trial so that I could give up now.
Pain. More pain than I have ever remembered feeling. I look up and my opponent is only a few meters ahead. The gap begins to close. I am crying, blood drips from my spiked ankle, breakfast sits heavy in my stomach, but I am gaining! I am passing him! The line is just ahead and time seems to slow down. Every step is forced until at last we cross the line and I am victorious.
As I stumble to the end of the shoot, my coach greets me with a gatorade and a warm hug. "Well done my good and faithful servant."
1 Corinthians 9:18- Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to other, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
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