The Gift of Time

Today is my first day of rest after running for 50 consecutive days -- 2 days before Lent, 40-day Lenten Run, 7 days Holy Week, and 1 day yesterday. I covered 312 miles. That’s a 10k every day for the last 50 days.

A few friends tell me that it’s good that I still have the time to run. But don’t we all get the same amount of time in a day? Nobody gets more than or less than 24 hours in a day, is there?

To tell you the truth, running for 50 days straight wasn’t easy. There were days I didn’t feel like running, like after a long day at work, during a busy weekend, that week when I was fighting a cold, or that time right after running a marathon. But I did.

I made use of the gift of time that was fit for me. I ran late at night after a long day; I ran first thing early morning on a busy weekend; I ran while waiting for my son’s away games to start.

On days that I wasn’t feeling well, I still ran. I told myself I would give
the gift of my time to others. As I ran, I thought about the people who
were sick, who are burdened by personal problems. I also
remembered the people who requested for prayers for their special

intentions. As I ran through pain, I prayed to God to help them and I also gave thanks on their behalf.  Praying for others, I somehow made it through running hurt or sick. It was my gift of time - to honor my commitment to run and pray for others.

50 days of running seem like a huge chunk of time. But actually it’s not. The total amount of time I actually ran is 2 days and 3 hours. It’s about 4% of my time.

I thank God for being able to run the last 50 days. I thank God for the gift of time. I can’t ask for anymore.