Running the whole way part II

It was 2:44 pm when I reached the Little Campbell River estuary today, having run the whole way (other than one or two short stops).  It’s now 5:17 pm.  My head is still fuzzy, my calves ache quite a bit and my digestive system is out of kilter. 

 But I did it!  It was the run for A Rocha Canada, from the headwaters to the estuary where the Little Campbell meets the Pacific Ocean – 23 km.  I started at 12:25, so it took me 2 hours and 19 minutes.  In the process I raised several thousand dollars for A Rocha Canada.

 I felt pretty good most of the way, trying to keep a steady pace and running along to the tunes of Christmas carols in my head.  I also prayed for all the A Rocha staff in south Surrey and some international staff and projects too. 

 It was great to greet a long line of well-wishers along the driveway to the South Surrey A Rocha Canada Field Study Center, where I made a short stop before completing the final 4 km. The center director Dave Anderson asked me there “what was the hardest part of the run?”

 At that point I had to admit there wasn’t a hardest part.  But as I started running again, my body started to seriously complain, telling me to stop running.  My calves were knotting up and fatigue wrapped itself around me. I was in for the hardest part, by far!

 I slowed to a walk at the King George Highway overpass which is a fairly steep uphill grade. It felt like if I hadn’t stopped running at that point, my legs would have given out.

 But then I saw my wife Deb parked just the other side of the overpass – she had been my faithful support through the whole run.  So I started running again (and smiled for the camera), and with a mostly downhill stretch to the estuary I somehow found my stride.

I was praying for myself in all of this too.  It says in Philippians 1:6 “He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it.”  It was true for my run today, and may it be true as well for the excellent work of A Rocha Canada as it charges forward.

                                        At the finish line, with the Little Campbell River estuary in the background