It Was As Far As I Could Go

April 9, 2024

I could go no further! I was just past the half-marathon point—13.1 miles. I had run a fast pace. Laura, my daughter, had given me this Portland Marathon trip and suggested we run the first half together. She had trained well and when we encountered hills, she chatted, and I tried to hide the fact that I was out of breath. I had trained well too, but to run with her—an amazing opportunity—I was going faster than usual. At the halfway marker, we parted ways. But, before we did, she said, “Here, I have something for you.” She took a folded index card out of her pocket and handed it to me.

I stopped at a porta-potty and when I rejoined the race, the feeling hit me. “I can’t run! Not anymore! I need a lift back to the starting line.” Runners call it “hitting the wall.” People were whizzing by me. I was almost at a standstill. I thought of a previous marathon where I ran in memory of my dad. I felt he gave me a word—to help me when I faltered—and it worked. “It’s okay. I’m going to make it,” were the words I had repeated. Now, I repeated them over and over. I was still moving with effort, but I began to pick up speed. I began to pass up the people in front. I was flying! And the tears were streaming down my face as I spoke out loud, “It’s okay, I’m going to make it.”

I was being moved along by a powerful force, God’s Holy Spirit. No feeling of fatigue dogged me. I crossed the finish line. I knew that Someone greater than me finished alongside me.

Laura’s timely words.

(My title came from a writing suggestion in “A Writer’s Book of Days,” by Judy Reeves.)