A Pacer, From Start To Finish

This summer I'm going to try something adventurous. I'm going to run 100 miles in a single day.

At least I hope I'm going to run 100 miles. Not everyone who starts such things finishes them, which I personally know to be true from much shorter events. One hundred miles makes for a long day and a variety of things can happen along the way, from injury to physical and mental exhaustion. I sent my registration in a week ago and come mid-August I'm going to go to South Dakota and give it my best effort.

The race I'm going to do this at has a number of things that I hope work in my favor. The course is an old railroad grade that has been resurfaced in limestone. Many ultra marathon events are on more rugged trails, and I have a history of falling roughly once per previous ultra marathon, and so this surface will be about the best thing for me to run on.

I have a friend who lives in the area where the run will be who has offered to crew for me. She will be able to meet me at different places along the course, providing food and a change of clothing as I find I need them. Best of all, this friend has done a full triathalon, and she can give me words of encouragement that come from her own experience in completing a grueling event.

And the last major thing that I think will help is that over the last 50 miles runners can have a pacer. A pacer is someone who runs along as a companion, providing encouragment with both their presence and their words. In the picture is the friend who will pace me the last 25 miles. My event fits in well with his own preparation for a fall marathon, and so he will run with me as his own training run, and so in that way we both benefit. The race rules allow a person of my age to have a pacer the entire 100 miles, but I'm a little old-school and think the last 25 will be just fine. I plan to run the first 75 miles solo, or with whomever I seem to fall in with, rather than take the opportunity to find pacers from start to finish.

As I was out running this morning and thinking about this summer I was struck by the thought that the Christian life is one where we live with a pacer from start to finish. But the pacer is no ordinary friend joining us only when we look for encouragement. This pacer is God himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit.

In John 14:26 Jesus is preparing his disciples for his coming departure from them, and he says:

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

From the first moment of faith until the drawing of the last breath, everyone who has faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord has the presence of the Holy Spirit with them. The Spirit of Christ, to teach, guide, encourage, comfort, strengthen.

He's not along for just a part of the trip. He doesn’t take a break because he happened to get tired himself. He's not a pacer who finds his own part in the journey hard, or who struggles to deal with his own injury that unexpectedly crops up along the way. He is fit for the task, from beginning to end. If at some point I'm not sure where he is, finding him is no harder that opening my Bible or lifting my hands in prayer.

I'm looking forward to the day this summer when I get to run the last 25 miles of a hard day with a good friend. But as a Christian, I'm glad to know that in the presence of the Holy Spirit I have a faithful companion from start to finish, for every step of every day.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.