Tag Archives: Brandywine River

Breaking Down

Posted on October 27, 2012 by expressyourself4him

Arden McMath and Meghan Vogel

As homecoming festivities commence on high school and college campuses across the country, I was reminded of a nightmarish event this morning.  During my sophomore year of high school, I gathered up enough courage to ask one of my cross country teammates to our upcoming Homecoming Dance.  However, there was a problem, I didn’t know how to dance and I wasn’t old enough to drive.  Since I really liked her, I didn’t have the foresight to consider any of the obstacles until I received an answer.

Unfortunately, I received 3 different answers over a 4 day period.  I felt like a ping pong, still up in the air, but ready to be hit back and forth.  I went from a maybe to a I’ll meet you there to a gut wrenching “I’m going with someone else from school.”  Running 8 miles for practice is hard enough, yet when you add this devastating news to my mind, I became emotionally unstable.  After running 5 miles along the Brandywine River, with my thoughts racing back and forth, I finally crashed in the form of an anxiety attack.

This emotional breakdown, while frustrating at the time, was a turning point in my life.  Up to this moment, I was trusting in myself.  Although I owned a Bible, I never used it unless I was in church listening to a priest read from the Old and New Testament.  A few weeks following this incident, I finally accepted an invite to attend a Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s Bible Study, rejecting offers for the first 15 months of high school.  Then, on December 3rd, 1983, I publicly professed my faith in Christ, Romans 10:9-10 at another FCA event.  God used this rejection and preceding breakdown to lead me toward heaven’s door, Revelation 3:20.  If you are having one of those days, remember that the storms of life strengthen you, helping you to become mature and complete as a person, James 1:2-4.

by Jay Mankus

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Cross Country

Posted on October 17, 2012 by expressyourself4him

2011 National Championship Meet

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize.  Run in such a way as to get the prize,” 1 Corinthians 9:24.  The apostle Paul is referring to the Corinthian Games when he writes this biblical truth, a first century pre-Olympics competition.  This passage applies to modern day cross country, a sport which consists of 7 runners, where the top 5 places count with runners 6 and 7 serving as blockers.  Like golf, the team with the lowest score wins.

When my 2 boys, James and Daniel, seen in the caption above, competed in the Yes Athletics National Championship Meet the past 3 years, they didn’t expect to win.  Rather, they were seeking to reach obtainable goals like running their PR, personal best or finish in the top 100 in the nation.  Unlike most sports where there are obvious winners and losers, cross country runners are racing against the clock.  The apostle Paul suggests that runners who compete in a race should make sure they run an honorable race with perseverance, fixing their eyes straight ahead, gazing at the cross, Hebrews 12:1-2.

Personally, I have experienced cross country on 3 levels.  The first as a runner in high school.  Beside the freshmen hazing, being thrown into the Brandywine River, it was best atmosphere I have ever been a part of as an athlete.  From the conversations during practice, to team dinners prior to Saturday invitationals and the overall camaraderie, there is nothing like cross country.  Where else can you rescue passed out runners, carry them to their coach and console a teammate who begins throwing up.

Second, as I have enjoyed watching races from a parents’ perspective.  What other sport allows you to talk to a total stranger, cheer for athletes you’ve never seen before and discover someone’s life story in 15-20 minutes while the race is ongoing.  The only draw back is depending on the course layout, sometimes parents have to run just as far as their children to reach the 1 and 2 mile marks before getting to the finish line.  Within the cross country community, there is a special bond which often draws unlikely people together to become close friends as they follow their children throughout their running career.

Finally, as a coach, I had the privilege to be around a middle school team for 3 years.  While their energy was sometimes too much for me to handle, I loved seeing each runner improve, often lowering their PR’s after a race.  Coach Heiddy, the woman I succeeded for a season, possessed an amazing mix of compassion and toughness to gently urge these young runners to improve.  One of the greatest accomplishments as a coach was watching every member of our team run their PR in a race last fall after Heiddy and I videoed their form.  This mental picture equipped each athlete to live out 1 Corinthians 9:24.

I played several sports at a competitive level, golf and ultimate frisbee as a professional.  Yet, nothing compares to the experiences I have had in cross country.  What Eric Liddle said  in Chariot’s of Fire is true for many cross country runners, “when you run, you feel God’s pleasure!”  Though many athletes hate running, there is a threshold you can cross which helps explain 1 Corinthians 9:27.  Once a runner’s mind learns to block out the mental anguish and pain, you can run like Forrest Gump, just not across America and back.   Anyway, “run Forrest run” and one day soon, who knows, I may see you at a cross country race!

by Jay Mankus

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.