Cheering on a Friend

 

On Sunday May 1, 2016 my husband and I decided to get up a little earlier than we normally do to cheer on a friend.  I can tell you the weather was not ideal.  It wasn’t that warm, it was windy and raining all morning long.  All I could think about was my friend and the race she was going to run that day.

The race was in our city so we decided to walk down near the lake where it was going on and wait for our friend to run by us so we could cheer her on.  We had hoped to get to our waiting spot around 10am, but we ended up getting there at 9:35am while it continued to rain.

Normally someone might complain about standing in the rain for hours, but I didn’t because I knew my friend was running in it.  My friend decided to run her first Marathon race this day and I felt how could I not come and support her.  I was so excited to see her run by at the 30km mark where my husband and I were waiting.

We saw a bunch of men run by first and later the fastest woman was chaperoned by a biker that said on his bike ‘the lead woman.’  It was cool to see the lead woman marathoner as she was really fast.  The other interesting thing we found was that with this marathon race you could do a relay.  That meant you could have up to a team of eight each do a portion of the race which meant a run of approximately 5km each with eight people.  Of course if you wanted to have less people in the relay that would mean each person would run further.

Another cute thing we saw was that they have these people called bunny pacers and this person would run a specific time for a marathon.  That could be 3 hours, 3 ¼ hours, 3 ½ hours. etc.  Each bunny pacer would wear bunny ears with their pace time on it.  That way people running in the marathon could try to run that pace if they wanted to.

When my friend ran past us we cheered her on and called her name and she excitedly raised her arms up as I could tell she was excited to see us too.  I was amazed how fast she was going at this point as she was just ahead of one of the bunny pacer guys.  At this rate she could qualify for the Boston Marathon.

After seeing our friend run by we decided to walk closer to the finish line as she had another 12km left of the race to run.  Also we hoped to get out of the rain if possible.  It turns out there wasn’t a lot of places to get coverage, so we decided to stop about 300 metres from the end of the race to wait and cheer on our friend again.

While we waited our pants and my gloves became soaking wet.  Our jackets were great as they were rain resistant, but I was still cold and shivering at times.  I decided to jump up and down a bit to keep myself warm as I waited to see my friend come.  At least we had waterproof shoes which helped a great deal.

In the Meantime, we cheered on other runners that were coming by.  A lot of people on the side even had cow bells that they were shaking near the end of the race to encourage racers on.  Then as the bunny pacers kept coming, we kept hoping to see my friend, but she seemed to be a bit behind.

Then at one point we could see her coming from a distance and could tell she was tired as she was walking at that point.  When she finally saw us we could tell she was exhausted.  With 300 metres left of the race I decided to run and walk that last part with her to help her out.  I had jeans on, so not the best clothes to wear for a run, but I didn’t care as all I could think about was my friend and how I could support her in that moment.

My friend ended up finishing her first marathon in less than 4 hours.  I think that’s amazing for her first time, especially when it was cold, windy and raining the whole time.  I was so glad that I was able to cheer on my friend in person.  Sure I was in the rain for a few hours straight, but it was so worth it to show my friend how much I care about her and that which she does.

It's often worth being out of your comfort zone when you can help out someone you care a lot about, by showing them love through your support with them.

Patricia <3 J

 

John 13:34   A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

 

Here’s a song about as not being overtaken and not being overcome by things.  That we walk down this dark and painful road, and we can face every fear that is unknown and that as we are God’s children we will not be overtaken, and we won’t be overcome.  And the same power of our Lord lives in us.  And in His Strength, there is nothing we can’t do.  And He conquered the enemy, so that we stand in Victory with Him.

 

“Same Power” by Jeremy Camp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InsifiZxVXU&list=PL3whQX319DaB37iB8NZpJe206iSdpe3kc&index=134