The Riverbank Run

At the starting line I was in the far back on the left

This was about 3 pushes before the finish line

 The picture means a lot to me because I was pouring out thanks to God just as I crossed the finish line

A couple weeks ago I did my first big race. The Riverbank Run in Grand Rapids is a 25k that draws a lot of big racers. When I made my race schedule back in March I put this one on it thinking I could just to the 10k division. My longest race previous to this was only 5 miles so I thought 25k was out of reach. So I emailed the wheelchair division coordinator inquiring about the 10k and she said "there is no wheelchair division for the 5 or 10k you have to do the 25k" Yikes. I signed up just hoping to finish. 

A week before the race was to begin I get word that they changed the course because of flooding along the riverbank.  As I was driving the course two days before the race was to begin I discover that the course change eliminated most of the flat area along the riverbank and added many more long, steep hills. As I drove them at 40 mph I was getting scared because of how long they were taking me to get up!

I had only been racing for 6 weeks but I felt like I had a pretty good base.  I thought "I can finish... I will be alive at the end and I will cross the finish line... as long as it doesn't rain."

Race morning came and it was raining. The race began and the rain fell. For a wheelchair racer, rain is the biggest obstacle because we have no grip on our push rim. The rubber on our gloves and the rubber on the push rim do great when its dry but miserable when its wet. It would be like putting distance runners on a very long uphill slip n' slide. 

Thankfully, another racer named Tricia Downing gave me some Handball Klister (its like really tacky glue that doesn't harden) and I put that on my gloves. Without that I wouldn't have finished the race. I had pretty good grip for the first 12 miles where all the big hills are.  As I was climbing the last hill and feeling like the klister was finally rubbing off I started to get a little scared. Scared and relieved at the same time. It felt like even though I three more miles weaving through town, if I could make the klister last until I got up this hill the finish was within reach. 3 miles to go - I can do that. I finally had this pit in my stomach disappear. It was a feeling of relief like "I am actually doing the thing I wasn't sure I could do."  

After I got over the last major hill and headed into town my right glove had no klister left and I just kept slipping. Each time I slipped - BAM. I hit my bicep on the fender that covers the wheel and I would lose my momentum.  All my focus was on getting good contact with the rim. I wasn't thinking about speed at all. On a minor hill about two miles to go I was slipping so bad I started to slow down to 2-3 mph. Runners were flying by me. One runner passed me and yelled "don't stop - you're so close!" I wanted to say "I am not stopping! There will be no stopping. I just have to find a new way to push on this right side." So I tried pushing with my right thumb on the spoke and I actually went a little faster. At least I wasn't slipping and losing momentum. I pushed on the spoke for the last two miles. I ended up with a time of 2:03:17 and placed 2nd out of 3 women in the wheelchair division.  

As I crossed the finish line all I could think was "Thank you Heavenly Father. Thank you for showing me that even in the worse possible conditions - you can make help me succeed if I just keep moving." I know he was with me and he made a miracle happen.  It has been 10 years since I have felt his presence so strong. The last time was when I broke my back. After I had been in the ICU for a week I was losing the will to push through the pain. I put my whole self out there and said to Him "I am pretty much done here. I have no more to give." In repsonse, he picked me up and carried me through the darkest night of my life. He was the living water of strength after I had tried to for a week to do it alone.