Running For Swaziland

Our daughter, Amy, ran the 26.2 mile marathon at Disney World today. We were all thrilled for her to cross the finish line feeling tired, but otherwise in good shape. She has had a stomach virus for the past few days and we were all concerned about her trying to run the race having not fully regained her strength. The longest distance she had run before today was twenty miles.

Amy called her run "Miracle In The Marathon" (scroll down to see her explanation in another blog beneath this one). She had commitments from friends to donate money to the impoverished nation of Swaziland for every mile she ran. By completing the race she was able to raise a thousand dollars!

Two significant moments happened as she ran. The first was around eight miles into the run when she began to feel dizzy and weak. She was surprised to feel so bad that early in the run and began to pray, "Lord, do I need to stop or keeping going? I don't want to faint along the way, but don't want to give up either." Just as she was praying a stranger on the sidelines called out to her (seeing her name on the bib that had her number on it) and said, "Keep going, Amy! You can make it!" That was all the answer she needed.

The second incident was around twenty miles when she began to feel weak again. She was just thinking about having not eaten much in the past days because of being sick and thinking that she needed to have eaten more carbs. At that moment, another runner came along beside her and said, "Do you need some sugar?" "Yes, as a matter of fact I do!" Amy answered. So the stranger shared something sweet with Amy to give her the boost she needed. She said she felt fine for the rest of the run.

She finished the race well. Her family was there to celebrate her victory and we are all proud of her. Most important is the fact that the people in Swaziland she wanted to bless will see the love of God more clearly because of her run.