One day, a woman set out to do the impossible. She didn’t know if she could. But she knew if she didn’t try, she would always regret it and wonder what could have been. She was a little sad and a little weak and a lot tired. She wanted something different for herself and for her family.

She started to run. Only a little at first. Because it was hard. And it hurt her legs and her back and her ego because she didn’t look like a runner and didn’t know if she was doing it right. She worried about what she should wear and what other people thought of her and by the way, who did she think she was?

But she started reading stories of other men and women who were just ordinary and how they had started out, just like her, a block or even just a mail box at a time. And she thought, well, I’ll never be like THEM, but I have to be healthier than I am. I have to feel better than I do.

She started to run and as she ran she cried, she laughed and she danced. After all, running is really only dancing moving forward, isn’t it? She grew stronger and leaner and fitter by the day. She used the running to tackle the demons, to talk to God, to settle her mind, to make her grocery list, to make up new lyrics to old songs. And she started making better choices about what she ate. And how she slept. And how she prayed.

And then she started doing things she never thought she could. She signed up for and ran a race. And she didn’t die. And she didn’t come in last (but it would have been OK if she had because the real victory is in the starting in the first place). She finished and she was sore and she was exhausted and she couldn’t walk down stairs. Or up stairs. Or to the kitchen. But she was happy. She was strong. She became a warrior.

She still runs today. Sometimes to get away from her family. Sometimes to cry because of her family and because she loves them so much. And mostly with joy because she has been so blessed.

And she ran happily ever after.

Run well, my friends. Enjoy every mile. And thank the God who made you strong and bold and brave. See you there at the finish.

Jen