Last night some friends and I escorted our good friend Brian Wilcox to the world's most insane marathon: the boogie.
Given that I'm not anything remotely resembling a runner, I categorically think marathons are insane. But this one takes the cake.
It's in the middle of no where (Ellerbe, NC, anyone?). There's no police blocking traffic. It starts at 6 p.m, gets dark around 9 p.m. and there are no street lights. Temperature is generally over 85-degrees. Last night it was hovering right at 90. The ideal race conditions would probably be right around 40 degrees cooler. The release form warns that there have been sitings of bobcats, polecats, rattlesnakes, and loose dogs.
There were 87 people signed up to run the marathon. Concurrent with the marathon is a 50-mile run, 78 people were signed up to run that last night. I overheard someone say that if you can finish the 50-miler in 12 hours, you're doing well. That's 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. of running.
Apparently there were a few no-shows, proof that not all runners are completely insane.
At the pre-race briefing under the old oak tree outside the church where the boogie is hosted, the race coordinator started by announcing: "This ain't Disney World!" He proceeded to remind runners about all possible hazards (no lights, some cars, only one aid station, six houses total on the course with some roaming dogs). He also informed us that rattlesnakes are not endangered in that county--good to know.
So while I was a couple hours away cheering on my friend Brian and hoping that the rattlesnakes didn't make their way into our card game, Kelly was putting the kids to bed. She graciously blessed this rare opportunity to get away together with some old friends, most of whom do not live locally.
As she was putting Davis to bed, she was explaining that Daddy was away on an adventure with some other daddies. Davis responded, "I hope when I get to be a daddy I can go away on adventures, too!"
This is a significant lesson for my little guy to take home, and my wife delivered it perfectly. I hope that Davis sees that I love God, my wife and my kids recklessly.
But I also want him to see that daddies need friends. So many dads don't. And I'm blessed to have some rich relationships that I pray will bless my son, as well as both my daughters. One of my most frequent prayers for my kids is that they will have friends in Christ at every life stage. They'll need them.
Brian finished the marathon around 11:30. He had hoped for a sub-4 hour time, but the conditions simply wouldn't allow it. As I rolled back home around 2:30 this morning, I was grateful for my wife and kids.
And I'm also grateful for friends who are crazy enough to run the boogie and invite us to come along with him. It was a gift to me...and to my little boy as he figures out what it means to be a daddy himself some day.
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