Ultrarunning and the Christian life 



Why is ultrarunning (running distances longer than a marathon) the perfect hobby for a Christian?
Let me count the ways:

Most ultras are trail races. Running (slowly) through the woods and mountains for hours on end gives one great opportunities to appreciate the wonders of God's creation- often going in one day to glorious places that for others,
if they ever go there at all, would require 4-5 days of backpacking.

Ultrarunning teaches you to pace yourself. Start too fast, and you probably won't finish.
Live your life in too hectic a fashion and you probably won't finish well.

It's about perseverance and, at times, long-suffering. The two great character traits of a Christian are perseverance and love. Without perseverance, love is just sentimentality. Without love, perseverance is meaningless.
Ultrarunning gives a person lots of practice in keeping on keeping on- through the pain, past the times of wanting to quit, hour after hard lonely hour. It teaches you that if you have a goal you can learn how not to be a slave to whatever you happen to feel like doing at the moment. And it teaches you the reward of exhilarating joy that is the province of those, and only those, who have persevered, through every obstacle and deep-rooted fear, to the very end.
It's not the only way to learn perseverance (you could just raise a few children, for example), but it sure helps!

Now to learn about love... you'll have to take up tennis go to Calvary. 

Posted: Wed - October 19, 2005 at 10:36 PM          

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