Believe it or not, I was once a cross country runner. Believe it or not, I ran for my college team. But here’s the skinny: my basketball coach in college came to me and said that the cross country team was down a runner and needed one more runner to start the race and finish the race, regardless of place, and if they couldn’t find that runner, then they’d not be able to enter the big meet. Well, we had a really good runner or two, so I said, “Sure why not?” Now the funny part.

Since I knew I’d not be able to run well, I decided that at some point I’d see if maybe I could be in the front. So, I sprinted to the front right away, or as close as I could get, and then began my long and slow and painful descent to the back… well, I did finish, a couple of our runners did very well, and I beat two guys — one of whom quit; the other, if my memory serves me right, was injured.
All this to say that both of my kids are running half-marathons this week. Lukas in a self-induced solo effort, with absolutely no training, and my daughter, next weekend, with miles behind her and plenty of training. Pray that neither Kris nor I will get the idea that we’re needed as runners in either event!