Chickamauga Battlefield Half Marathon
After a great weekend on North Georgia, I’m taking a few minutes to relax and reflect. The trip had two purposes: run the half marathon at Chickamauga Battlefield and visit with Jessika at Covenant College. The Battlefield Park is less than thirty minutes from Lookout Mountain, so it was a convenient location for a race. I’ve been training for it for several weeks, so I was hoping for a good finish. For me, that would be a time of under two hours. In the end, I finished in 1:54:32. which is a pace of 8:51 per mile. That was good for 173rd of 731 runners overall and 14th of 44 runners in my age group (45-49 yrs old). Here are some random thoughts:
- Until now, I thought I was an average runner. It appears I am above average, both overall and for my age.
- Training and hard work pays off. You wonder if it does sometimes. But getting up at 4:30 or 5am and doing your training makes a difference.
- Chickamauga Battlefield is a beautiful setting for a race. Scenic and serene, gently sloping hills. The weather was great for a race-mid 40′s at the start warming up to the mid 50′s.
- Before long it will be February and I’ll be running a full marathon at Myrtle Beach. No time to rest.
- A full marathon??!! I was super-sore after a half marathon. How will I feel after a full one???
- My (very) ambitious goal for the marathon is a time of under four hours. Yikes! That’s nearly the same pace as the half, but for twice as long!
- Running long distances is a very spiritual experience. By that I mean that you have a long time to think, to pray, to overcome pain and trials, to pass slower people and get passed by faster people, and to breathe many breaths. In short, you know you are alive. And knowing you are alive makes you think about the One who authors life and keeps life going by His exclusive will and power. You feel close to the Lord and far from Him at the same time. And then you finish the race, which is a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. No wonder Paul spoke so eloquently about finishing the spiritual race as a Christian.
- Oh yeah, we visited with Jessie too. Nice to see her in her college environment. We’re impressed with her maturity, her friends, her effort and focus, and her enjoyment of this season of life. I’m envious, in a way. Here she is with her roommate:
