Joy Comes With the Morning: Finisher.

physical. emotional. mental. spiritual.

All of these were included in completing the Chicago Marathon. Perhaps, besides these four words, another one could be used: FINISHER. I completed the Chicago Marathon and I did it for my lost high school friends. My wonderful YoungLife friends that maybe don't know Jesus but could now have an opportunity to meet Him face to face because they have scholarships to camp. For anyone that supported me, whether through prayer, financially, or even by cheering at the race; thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means the world to me that you believed in me and believed in the cause that I was running for.

I finished the marathon in 4 hours and 47 minutes; a bit slower than I had hoped but it was under 5 hours and I crossed the finish line. So Praise The Lord! The marathon was one of the most draining things that I have ever participated in, but also one of the most rewarding as well. It drained me physically. It drained me emotionally. It drained me mentally. And it drained me spiritually. But the Lord was faithful as always and carried me all the way to the finish line and he did this in the form of my WONDERFUL friend Hannah Shreve. What a blessing from the Lord, she ran just over half of the race with me and pushed me almost all the way to the finish line. My mental strength was fading but she was the one who kept me strong. I will forever be grateful to her for all the help that she gave me.

The night before my race, I had quite the shock. Ben and I were walking into Chipotle so that I could carb load and low and behold my family was sitting directly to my left! I was shocked, my parents were suppossed to still be in Panema and my sister was suppossed to be in Colorado. But with the help of Ben, they pulled off a wonderful surpise and were able to come to Chicago. I was so excited that I started crying and screaming and I think laughing at the same time. I would definitely say that the fact that they were there waiting for me at the finish line helped carry me through to the end. Thanks again Mom, Dad, and Heather for coming out to support me and cheer for me! I love you all so much! What a GLORIOUS surprise.

People keep asking me if I will ever run it again. My answer: I just don't know. I love running and see myself being a runner for the rest of my life but maybe not at this extreme again. Maybe I will try out a half marathon. We will see what the future holds, but for now I will enjoy being a finisher.

Here are some picture highlights from October 7, 2012: