26.2 miles

The New York City marathon last weekend was incredible. I have never been to a marathon - I know, it's crazy, you can't believe that I haven't run a marathon. The most I have ever run is a 5k, and I have never seen the point of running 26.2 miles or watching others do it. Yet there was something so energetic about it! To see thousands of people from all over the world running; setting goals and achieving them, running for a purpose or cause or with a reason - that was invigorating to watch.
I got to the meeting place in the morning when the weather was a brisk 48 degrees and we watched the elite runners come through (these are people who can run 26 miles in 2 hours. Umm, is anyone else blown away by this? I'm pretty sure my 5k took me an hour...) and then a steady stream of other runners hit the 24 mile mark where we were stationed. Some people had on costumes and accessories, they had their names written on their shirts, were part of a team and we cheered them on. Some smiled and raised their hands victoriously - others looked on the verge of tears. The energy and tension was palpable. For 7 hours we screamed ourselves hoarse as one after another the runners for Team World Vision passed by, and as we cheered on others. "Don't quit! You're so close! You're doing so well! This is amazing - YOU are running the NYC marathon." It was contagious. Don't get me wrong -I'm nowhere close to having any desire to run 26.2 miles, but for the first time I felt like I understood why some people run. For the Team World Vision runners - about 28 total- they were running for child protection. These individuals were avid runners who had been invited by WV to run and raise money for global child protection. Their goal as a team was $140,000. By the day of the race they had in over $207,000!! One guy ran the race in a tutu because he promised he would if he met his goal of $32,000. And this money is going directly to benefit programs through World Vision that are advocating on behalf of innocent, victimized children.
If that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will.

Some of the Team World Vision runners