{"id":5328,"date":"2013-08-31T14:08:34","date_gmt":"2013-08-31T19:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=5328"},"modified":"2013-08-31T14:08:34","modified_gmt":"2013-08-31T19:08:34","slug":"running-with-purpose-a-short-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2013\/running-with-purpose-a-short-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Running with Purpose: A Short Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
I’ve been a runner since 8th grade. \u00a0I didn’t join the track team in 7th grade because I was afraid. \u00a0I don’t remember what I was afraid of, track is the only sport that you couldn’t get cut from! \u00a0I remember the first time I had to run around the cinder oval – it hurt and felt like forever. \u00a0Who would have thought that 20 years later (yikes!) I would have run two marathons, numerous half-marathons, and many many other races.<\/div>\n
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Throughout middle and high school and much of college I ran to be a part of a team. Sure I got picked on by the upper classmen because I’m a scrawny little guy.. \u00a0but on the track I felt great. \u00a0It seemed natural to join the cross country team in college and that was as close knit as any fraternity I’ve seen. \u00a0Some of my best friends are from those 4 years.<\/div>\n
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Somewhere in college my body and I got addicted to running. \u00a0I couldn’t stop. \u00a0As I traveled to England, South Africa, New Jersey, Ghana I ran. Running is a great way to see the world and to explore it in a different way. \u00a0You see a different part of a city when you run at the wee hour than you do when the tourists are out in force!<\/div>\n
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As I moved around and settled in to life I kept running. \u00a0Running is such a huge part of my life that the times I’m not able to run hurt. \u00a0I’ve continued running because I enjoy the pure pleasure of the wind in the face and the dirt on the legs after a great run. \u00a0I’ve met many great people and had numerous deep friendships develop on the roads and trails in my life.<\/div>\n
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Why am I telling you this? Another passion of mine is concern and compassion for the international community. \u00a0During my studies in South Africa and Ghana I’ve seen some of the worst poverty imaginable. I’ve seen hope and progress, but the poverty still lingers. \u00a0The continent of Africa has captured my heart and won’t let go. \u00a0As a family we continue to pour our lives into sharing with others the skills we’ve been blessed with.<\/div>\n
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In 2007, at the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon I saw something that would soon bring my running world and my passion for international issues together – a Team World Vision jersey. \u00a0After some research, I discovered that Team World Vision was raising money for clean water in Africa.<\/div>\n
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In 2008 I ran my first marathon raising money for water projects in Africa. \u00a0Each year since I have been involved with Team World Vision as I’ve done a variety of races. \u00a0This has become a better purpose for my running. \u00a0Connecting with others about the needs around the world, raising awareness, and supporting others as they run their first races… Why?<\/div>\n
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Did you know that people are still dying because they don’t have clean water? \u00a0This is 2013 and kids are dying because they don’t have clean water to drink. \u00a0The statistics will overwhelm you (783 million lack clean water, 6,000 kids die daily as a result of waterborne illness), but the solution is fairly simple. \u00a0$50 provides clean water for one smiling kid, for the rest of his\/her life. \u00a0 In the time you’ve read this several kids have died… \u00a0Would you consider supporting me as I raise money and awareness about the need for clean water? \u00a0I live in the City of Lakes in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and these lakes are cleaner than the nasty water that many kids around the world drink, cook, and bathe in each day.<\/div>\n
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Please thoughtfully consider a\u00a0$100 donation at this website<\/a>. \u00a0It is safe and secure and would provide clean water for two wonderful children – maybe even some as wonderful as my Nadia and Caleb.<\/div>\n
\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been a runner since 8th grade. \u00a0I didn’t join the track team in 7th grade because I was afraid. \u00a0I don’t remember what I was afraid of, track is the only sport that you couldn’t get cut from! \u00a0I remember the first time I had to run around the cinder oval – it hurt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28,13,58],"tags":[64,144,57,547],"class_list":["post-5328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-charity","category-my-running","category-world-vision","tag-africa","tag-drinking-water","tag-team-world-vision","tag-water"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-1nW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1716,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/running-from-apathy\/","url_meta":{"origin":5328,"position":0},"title":"Running from Apathy","author":"crossn81","date":"December 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Image by crossn81 via Flickr Today, Dec 1 is World AIDS Day.\u00a0 You really should read this article about hope from Relevant I left Desalech with an amazing sense of hope, and also urgency. She had seen her life turn around. But I could only imagine how many other women\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/ryan-sara-hall-join-team-world-vision\/","url_meta":{"origin":5328,"position":1},"title":"Ryan & Sara Hall Join Team World Vision","author":"crossn81","date":"July 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In honor of the Track and Field Trials let's talk about some professional athletes.\u00a0 Ryan and Sara Hall joined Team World Vision this year.\u00a0 I'll let you hear their story straight from their page: A message from Ryan: \"Joining Team World Vision was an answer to our prayer. Now we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.firstgiving.com\/Design\/1589\/images\/twvc_bnr.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":713,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/october-highlights\/","url_meta":{"origin":5328,"position":2},"title":"October Highlights","author":"crossn81","date":"October 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This really should be titled \"Marathon Highlights\" since most of the month this year and last was talking about marathons!\u00a0 Did I talk too much about it this year? Well it was a major highlight of the year and I spent plenty of weeks training, thinking, and focusing on it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlights"","block_context":{"text":"Highlights","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/highlights\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":298,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/ive-been-tagged\/","url_meta":{"origin":5328,"position":3},"title":"I’ve Been Tagged","author":"crossn81","date":"June 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I was tagged by Lori (aka Toughnoodles). When you get tagged you are supposed to answer the questions and then tag 5 other people.\u00a0 I'm going to be one of those weirdo's who just says if you are reading this and want to get tagged - you are it! So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Running"","block_context":{"text":"My Running","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/my-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1162,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/guest-post-team-one-verse\/","url_meta":{"origin":5328,"position":4},"title":"Guest Post: Team One Verse","author":"crossn81","date":"March 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I'm turning over the writing duties to Allison Martin.\u00a0 We heard from her back in December of 2007 in a Guest Review of the St Jude Marathon. Allison started running in 2005 and slowly added on the miles, completing her third marathon in October 2008. She lives and runs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"\/running\/images\/GeistHalfTOV.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2018,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2010\/what-a-month\/","url_meta":{"origin":5328,"position":5},"title":"What a Month","author":"crossn81","date":"June 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This has been a rough month. \u00a0I really, really want to run. \u00a0Biking and swimming are great, but runners want to run. \u00a0The latest report from my doctor is that I tested negative for Lyme disease (which doesn't mean it isn't still inside of me), but my knee is still\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Running"","block_context":{"text":"My Running","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/my-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5328"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5329,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5328\/revisions\/5329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}