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Thanks to all of you who wrote to say how inspired you were by the previous story on Elizabeth Wright and Girls on the Run. As I mentioned at the end of that article, Elizabeth planned to run her second marathon to raise funds for vulnerable children in Africa through Team World Vision. If you followed news of the recent Chicago Marathon, you know it offered more of a challenge than many runners could handle. But our exceedingly dangerous woman, Elizabeth, was not to be deterred. I thought you’d enjoy this update on Elizabeth’s marathon experience…in her own words.
We all heard it was going to be hot on Sunday, October 7, 2007 for LaSalle Bank’s 30th Chicago Marathon. I am telling you that hot is an understatement.
With roughly 33,000 people, I walked to the starting line feeling rested and ready. My nerves were pretty much in check although I was a bit anxious to get things going. This is much the way I felt last year just before my first marathon so I took it as a very good sign.
My ultimate running goal was to finish 26.2 miles in under 4 hours, specifically 3 hours and 50 minutes, which officially qualifies a female my age to run in the prestigious Boston Marathon.
I’ve been consistently running for a little over a year after a 20-year leave of absence. I worked hard this summer. I ran more miles, completed additional strength training, ate all the “right” foods and cut down on my favorite “wrong” foods including, of course, chocolate. Getting to the starting line uninjured is an accomplishment in itself. And now I’m here. I am ready. I really want this. I CAN see myself crossing the finish line, the clock reading 3:48:22 or some similar variation, but ALWAYS under 3:51:00!
I also ran this marathon as a member of Team World Vision to build awareness and raise funds for the needs of children in Africa. Coming together with over 500 World Vision runners for something greater than ourselves, to make a difference, to inspire change…well, that’s just cool and I had to be a part of it!
My own personal cheering section was also in Chicago for the marathon—my dear friends and my amazing husband were the masterminds of perfect strategies for being present in key locations throughout the course. They each deserve medals of their own for traipsing all over downtown Chicago in 90-degree weather.
I am so blessed. Physically ready and emotionally supported. What can go wrong?
Mother Nature can be a marathoner’s best friend or most ruthless adversary. She was not a friend during this year’s race. Temperatures rose to the upper 80s with high humidity. Street level temps in the city were in the low 90s. Conditions were so severe that officials closed the course after 4 hours. Over 300 runners were hospitalized and more than 11,000 did not cross the finish line.
I knew at mile 8 that I would have to go to plan “B” and let go of finishing under 4 hours. My body was just working too hard to maintain that pace.
At the halfway point I was embracing plan “C.” My heart was racing and I was slowing down a lot. Even though I was drinking Gatorade at every water station, by mile 16 I was getting cramps in my legs and I was walking more than running. I had a pretty good headache by mile 20 but was determined to finish.
What was I thinking?
I was thinking about those children in Africa and how extreme their lives were—the conditions, their health, their hunger—every day. This was just a marathon. I was prepared to embrace difficult. I could do it. I could tough out the next 6.2 miles for those kids.
When my support group saw me at mile 23 the race had been canceled and I was not in good shape. Runners who were past a certain part of the course were told they could walk to the finish line. I don’t remember much of this part of the race. My husband, David, walked the last 3.2 miles with me. I would not have been able to finish had he not been there for me.
Obviously, I did not reach the goal I had set my sights on. I had devoted so much time and energy into training. It is tremendously disappointing that a factor outside my control sidetracked my running goal and put the squash on my dream.
But isn’t that sometimes like life in general? We dedicate so much time and energy to relationships, jobs, health and other facets of our lives, yet they can fail us despite our most valiant efforts.
A fellow runner told me not to forget about the journey. And you know what? He’s right. I love the journey! Another summer of training and preparation. The rewards, the friendships, the stories, the laughter, the learning—all these mean so much more than the marathon itself.
Life isn’t made up of a single journey or destination but of many. Some of them are totally awesome and some of them stink. I’m going to need a few more days to process this stinky journey. But being able to run is a gift that I intend to cherish for as long as possible. I shall recover and set my sights on another race, a new goal, a different version of my dream.
I want to thank everyone who supported my goals and dreams for this marathon. I took every single good luck hug, phone call, and email with me to that starting line and I hung onto them dearly during one of the most difficult physical challenges I have ever endured.
I feel best about the difference I’ve made for World Vision’s Maternal and Child Nutrition Initiative focused in Ethiopia and Zambia. My prayer was that God would use my legs and my heart in this event to make a difference and that 26 children would receive the life-changing gift of sponsorship or support. I’ve not yet reached that goal, but I’m not going to give up. If you know of anyone who may be inspired to support this vision, I would be grateful if you’d share this information. My World Vision web page is www.firstgiving.com/ewright.
Peace and love to all of you—
Elizabeth
There are so many aspects of Beth’s story that inspire me. I saw her training so diligently this summer, I heard her stories of the people she met along the way, I felt her passion for the African children for whom she was raising funds. And I knew how much she wanted to qualify for Boston.
When I heard from mutual friends about Beth’s marathon experience, I expected it to take a good week before she would even want to talk about it. But she sent out the report you just read the very day after the marathon. Already she was talking about a different version of her dream. I highlighted those words in her report because they captured so well the attitude I want to have toward setbacks in life.
We’ve all had dreams crumble. What do we do? Get discouraged and de-energized? Slide into despair? Or do we ask God to give us a new version of our dream?
When I turned 50, I grieved the death of many dreams I’d had held onto since young adulthood—dreams of books I’d write, talks I’d give, good works I’d accomplish. Only grudgingly did I finally yield myself to new versions of those dreams. But the unfolding of the new dreams of recent years has turned my grieving into gratitude. Into my open hands has been placed a life, a ministry, an opportunity better than any I’d dreamed of.
That may be one of the most important lessons for those of us who want to live more dangerously: that it is often in the death of our dreams that a stronger, more vibrant and meaningful dream is born.
Poet David Whyte writes, “Sometimes with the bones of the black sticks left when the fire has gone out, someone has written something new in the ashes of your life. You are not leaving, you are arriving.” Arriving upon a new dream.
Yesterday I talked with Beth. While her running dreams may be reworking themselves, her dream to serve the world’s children is growing. Her passion moved me to visit her World Vision webpage to make a larger donation than I’d planned. She dug deeper to finish an incredibly challenging marathon—and inspired me to dig deeper to support Africa’s children. If you’d like to join us in that dream, Beth will be receiving funds for a short while longer at www.firstgiving.com/ewright.
And don’t forget to check back next month to meet another wonderfully dangerous woman.
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