God, Faith, Mentors, and Boston

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”

As an eight year old in June 1975 standing by the old windmill tower between our house and the barn, I set five major goals; including running the Boston Marathon. Boston is the world’s premier annual marathon, second overall to the Olympic Marathon. As an eight year bow-legged farm boy, I could barely run a quarter of a mile non-stop.

I wrote this goal down in one spot, on my mind! Scripture instructs us to submit our plans to the Lord, allowing Him to direct our thoughts. A goal written on our mind and submitted to our Lord enables Him to direct our thoughts towards achievement. The goal remained written on my mind for twenty years. In May 1994, suffering a six week battle with a stress fracture, unable to run more than two to three miles, I made the decision to run the Boston Marathon April 17, 1995.

Consequently, the Lord directed me to increase my scripture reading. I meditated on John 15 virtually every day. Eventually I created a summary, “I cannot, Christ can, We (Christ and I) are”. Additionally I confessed, “It is not me, rather Christ who is in me”. Within a few weeks, I was running seventy to ninety miles-per-week; including a weekly twenty to twenty-five miler before 8:30 am church.

April 17, 1995 finally arrived, the day of which I had been dreaming of for nearly twenty years. I arrived at the starting line with 10,000 others with bib number “199” pinned onto my white “Beta Sig” racing singlet. I began slowly, crossing 2 miles in 12:00; gradually accelerating, passing ten miles in 54:57 missing my goal time, also written only on my mind, of 55:00 by 3 seconds. The crowd of 1.5 to 2 million spectators lining the course cheered wildly, at times deafening.

Each time a youth would praise my effort, I confessed the paraphrased John 15:5, “It is not me, rather Christ who is in me” or “Without Christ, I am nothing”.
Increasing the significance, I NEVER speak during a race; it wastes of energy.

The more I confessed this audibly and silently, the faster I ran; speeding up to 5:02 miles, passing some of the world’s top ranked marathoners. Fatigue permeated my legs, the greater the pain, the greater I confessed John 15:5; the more I confessed, the faster I ran. A perpetual spiral of upward performance. The Lord directed my thoughts.

He also directed my thoughts to drink water through 16 miles, through the advice of my Hall of Fame coach, Lyle Claussen. I ignored this advice, believing that my performance exceeded the need of water. We must listen to mentors!
The last five miles were miserable, I craved to be "temporarily dead"; yet I finished in 49th place; continually acknowledging my dependence on the Lord. Upon finishing, the medical personnel placed me on IV’s for 2 hours. I was a couple of liters low on water, I do not recommend you try this with your automobiles' oil.

A Boston Globe reporter expressed disappointment as I departed the medical tent alive, still wearing my white “Beta Sig” singlet. I accomplished my goal set in 1975, by placing my dependence on our Lord. Do we submit all of our plans to the Lord?

Despite our intellect, finances, or physical conditioning; apart from Christ we are helpless. With Him, we can compete and perform with the world’s best! Remain in Christ, bear much fruit.

Make it a Great Day in Christ!
Rick E. Meyer
Rick Meyer Speaking