As I entered my teenage years, Lee Majors starred in the television hit The 6 Million Dollar Man. This show featured Steve Austin, an astronaut who undergoes reconstructive surgery to save his life. As a result, he becomes the world’s first bionic man. Doctor’s promised to make him bigger, stronger and faster after the operation.
Although this show did not inspire me to run, I developed an unusual desire to run like Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire. According to the film, when Eric ran, he could feel God’s pleasure. I never did achieve this sensation; nor did I enjoy running everyday. However, the competitor in me longed to break the 17 minute mark for 5K or 3 miles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yoDE-3dTvU
During my senior year of high school, I achieved this feat twice. The first time occurred in my team’s only loss of the season as I allowed 2 runners to pass me in the final portion of the course. The second time was much sweeter as God enabled me to run 16:30 for 3 miles on a hilly course. Out of 207 runners, I was 20th, collapsing at the finish line, giving all that I had for the first and only time in my life. Despite being told by doctor’s a year earlier I would never run again following a horrific ankle injury that ended my junior cross country season, God empowered me to become a 16 minute man.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 