NeilCraigan.Com

Run Rwanda then Run South Africa for the kids

On May 27th I am planning to join Team World Vision at the International Peace Marathon in Kigali, Rwanda. The next Sunday I will  running the 56 mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa. 

In between the races our team will be visiting area development projects within Rwanda, meeting sponsored children and observing the work World Vision has accomplished in these communities.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to once again visit Africa and see the work World Vision is doing in developing nations. It is a great privilege and not one that I take lightly. That I am able to take my love for running and my passion to see the end of "stupid poverty" and combine the two is very special.

My goal for this trip is to continue to find people to sponsor kids in both Rwanda and South Africa. Over the last year I have found sponsors for 52 kids but would love to blow past the 100 mark before the end of May. There will be more information on how you can help with this coming soon. In the meantime I ask that you would begin to pray for our team and the kids whose lives will be forever changed because of sponsorship. 

I am a runner... (part 2)

I am a runner... when I toe the line at the start of a race I've never once had the thoought that I could win the race outright. I've had a couple of top ten finishes in small races and won a couple of age group awards but nothing special at all.

So why do I  race if I know there is no chance of winning? I race to see h0w far I can push myself, I race to see if I can improve on my previous best times. I race because I love to compete, even if its with myself.

On any given day there can be only one winner, everyone else falls short of that. At any given time there is only one world number one, everyone else falls short. Does that mean that I give up trying to do my best? No. Does that mean that I slack off on my training and discipline because I will never be as proficient a runner as someone else? No. I simply run to see how well I can do on any given day. I train hard for these races, working in time around work and family commitments to get out and run, sometimes long, sometimes fast.

Over the years I've been in ministry I've watched many people give up trying to grow in their faith. They've decided that they could never love God like (enter name). They've decided they don't understand the Bible so have stopped reading it altogehter. They've adopted the creed of our culutre that if you're not a winner then you're a loser.They've forgotten that competing well is what matters.

I'll never write like Tolkein, preach like Spurgeon, love like Theresa, have courage like Bonhoeffer or understand theology like Barth. I will however be faithful with the gifts that I have, I will nurture them and train myself to fully utilize them to the best of my ability with the help of God.

The final fruit listed by Paul in Galatians is "self-control." We have to learn to control ourselves to become all that God would have us be. Look to those who are better/further ahead in their faith journey as sources of inspiration and hope for you, and not as an excuse to drop out of the race of faith.

Training

Marathon training is coming along well. Just completed a forty mile week. While not a lot for some runners I tend to max out at just under 50 for marathons.

I put in a good 16 mile run yesterday and followed it up with 8 today. I ran the first 6 as mile repeats at an average pace of 7:12 and then turned Garmin off for the last two. Not bad on a pair of tired legs.

My JFK 50

For anyone interested in my fifty mile run, you can read about it here

GO MARY!!

I've been running for two years now and yes, I consider myself a runner. I was in fairly good shape when I started running so it wasn't as tough a transition as it might have been. I have a friend, Mary, and she is starting running for the first time in her life and is planning to run a marathon this summer as part of Team in Training.

All I can say is wow, go Mary, go!

GO MARY!

I've been running for two years now and yes I consider myself a runner. I was in fairly good shape when I started running so it wasn't as tough a transition as it might have been. I have a friend, Mary, and she is starting running for the first time in her life and is planning to run a marathon this summer as part of Team in Training.

All I can say is wow, go Mary, go!

A brief encounter

A week ago I headed for Dicks to buy a new pair of running shoes. I thought it would be just a regular trip to the store, but as I was driving I hadn't expected to meet Craig.

Who's Craig? Just a guy I met at Dicks. I was waiting for the store clerk to come out of the back room with my shoes so I could try them on when this guy sees my Virginia Beach 1/2 Marathon shirt and asks me about it. I told him we had a great weekend and the race was a lot of fun. He then told me how he had been running for a little over a year and was planning on running the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October. I asked him how he got into running and he said he had needed to lose some weight, in fact Craig has lost 100 pounds over the last year!

We wished each other well and off we went on our separate ways. It was a brief encounter but it got me thinking... At no time did we ask each other what sort of runner we were, there was no argument over whether Hal Higdon's marathon method is better that Jeff Galloways. We didn't argue over the best distance to run, in fact there wasn't any suspicion at all that one of us might be the wrong sort of runner!

I hope my point for the church is obvious.

Ultramarathon... Why not!

Ok, I'm willing to go public with this thought, sometime in the next 14 months I will enter the world of ultrarunning and compete in my first ultramarathon! There I've said it.

I've toyed with this thought for several months now, I don't expect that I'm going to get any faster as a runner over the coming years so perhaps I can push my endurance a little.

What is an ultramarathon? Any race over the standard marathon distance of 25.2 miles. Most ultramarathons are 50k, 50 miles or 100 miles in length. I have no desire to try a 100 mile race at this point so it will be either a 50k or 50 miler. The difference between these two... 19 miles. My head says to start with the 50k, my ego the 50 miler.

Why do this, why now? It's simple really, its just something I want to do before I 40 turn in October of 2008.

Which race will it be? I don't know yet, perhaps the Bull Run 50 in April, or a trip back to Minnesota for the Afton 50k in July, at this point its a big TBD.

In preparation I will be running the VA Beach Rock and Roll Half Marathon this Sunday, the Army Ten Miler in October and the Richmond Marathon in November.

A Thought from Roger Bannister

Roger Bannister says, "Sport is about not being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport is about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify your plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking your chances."

Unfortunately far to many "Christians" think that their faith is somehow supposed to be a cotton wool wrap. They believe that their faith will protect them from any harm that comes their way, its as if God's greatest concern is our personal safety and wellbeing. What a lot of nonsense!

Living by faith is risky business, it involves the unexpected, it requires adaptation. Yes, it even involves taking risks, some of which might fail. But that's OK with me.

What chances are you going to take for Jesus today?

Virginia Run Turkey Trot

Felt like a great race! Virtually no trouble from the bad leg. Cold and damp morning. Finished in 23:29 a 7:34 pace. Where did that place me? Just inside the top 25%, very happy with that.

Lots of church volunteers at the finish, it was wonderful to see so many CPC folks passing out water, bananas, apples and bagels.

Sort of X-Training

Walk for the Homeless in DC. A three mile stroll round the tidal basin.

Sort of X-Training

Walk for the Homeless in DC. A three mile stroll round the tidal basin.

New Shoes

Bought new shoes today. Asics GEL-Enduro. They are a trail shoe by design but very comfortable on my feet. I can't wait to go for a run in them.

Put in 5 miles today, hip felt a little sore but much better than it had been feeling. New shoes felt great on my feet. Temperature about 65, pace about 9:30

New Shoes

Bought new shoes today. Asics GEL-Enduro. They are a trail shoe by design but very comfortable on my feet. I can't wait to go for a run in them.

Put in 5 miles today, hip felt a little sore but much better than it had been feeling. New shoes felt great on my feet. Temperature about 65, pace about 9:30