“Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the brokenness and baggage that just won’t let go. Let’s run with endurance the race that is ahead of us.”  Letter to the Hebrews 12:1

A big “THANK YOU” to my hometown race company 1st Place Sports in Jacksonville, FL for making this event possible.  This race has become an annual tradition for me.  When I discovered I would be deployed and would miss this year’s Thanksgiving Day Distance Classic half marathon, I contacted 1PS and asked if I could register for the race in JAX but run it in Djibouti.

I got the thumbs up. Then, I thought that other Soldiers deployed with the battalion would want to run a half marathon also. So I asked 1PS if I could host a remote version of the race. As the Battalion Chaplain, the extra-fun aspect is getting to plan and host this as a ‘Spiritual Fitness Event’ for my battalion. Thumbs up again.

So, we are a few days before the race. We have over 150 runners ready to hit the pavement at 0330 (yes…in the morning). We have runners representing each branch of the US Armed Forces, as well as a number of our beloved French 5th Marine Regiment allies. We will each earn our Thanksgiving Day feast later that day.

The Word of the Week is “Endurance” which I will share as part of the opening ceremonies.