Nathan Eastlake

The only thing I remember about the 8^th annual Promised Land 50k is how often I prayed to God to keep me from breaking apart and to keep my strength and determination strong. From the start of the race, I was praying that He be with me over the course of the run, as I was in no shape at all to be running a 50k. The Sunday prior to the race I had strained both Achilles tendons and was having some pretty heavy IT band pain. That week I dove into as many quiet times with the Lord as possible. I have never been very good at letting go and letting God, I have always tried as hard as possible to push through any obstacles on my own. Though that week something changed, I realized there was no way I could ever finish Promised Land without the Lord’s divine intervention.

Each day throughout the week I was sure to ice and stretch both my Achilles and IT bands. As the race drew nearer, fear grew inside me and my faith shrank for neither problem seemed to be getting better. Friday night as we all know, there was a downpour and everything in my tent was somehow drenched. So my wife and I slept in a crowded, small uncomfortable Chevy Cavalier with our dog Dexter. Soon after falling asleep, the alarm on my wrist watch sounded; it was 4 a.m. and the time to run crept closer and closer. As I awoke, I found that I had a major spasm in my left glute from sleeping in a strange position in the car. I started to worry even more with this new muscle spasm, which  could potentially become a major problem. All through the night I would stretch my Achilles and I could tell they were still quite sore and I was incredibly afraid to even start the race; I was so afraid I would be unable to finish.  As my wife lay sound asleep in the passenger seat, I took the moment to erase all that was cluttering my mind.  All my worries and fears I placed in God’s hands. I was so full of doubt and negativity all week that I never truly allowed him to heal me.

As the race began, I could do nothing but pray and repeat Philippians 4:13 in my head. I thanked God so many times for all He had given to me. I thanked Him for my wife, my desire to be healthy and exercise, for my family and all the opportunities in my life that I have had and will have, and of course offering up for us His son Jesus.

The most memorable part of the race came at the bottom of Apples Orchard Falls. I had done a pretty good job at pacing myself and not pushing too hard, though a few times throughout the race I felt like I wanted to quit. At about mile 11 or 12 my glute was giving me problems and I thought for sure as the race progressed that it would decrease in strength rapidly. And as the race went on so did my prayers in the times when I needed them most. Shortly after my glute started to hurt the pain had simply went away, and I no longer for the duration of the race felt a single twitch from that area.

Further into the race my right hamstring was starting to act up around mile 18. That soon faded as well and my mood for running was growing bight. About the time I started to feel better I was kept company for a few miles by a man named Conrad whom I had some decent small talk with to help keep me on track. This point in the race is where I believed my Achilles tendons were most susceptible to screaming out at me simply because this was the same area where I began having Achilles tendon problems in my first Promised Land race which slowed me down to nearly a walk. Though for this year’s race, my prayers to God to keep me strong were working. I carried on my arm my iPod nano but used it no more than 30 minutes in the very beginning of the race. The music seemed to be getting in the way of me listening to my heart, to what God was trying to speak to me as well. There was not one mile I ran where I had not been in prayer for at least half the time. It was moving to me, and I felt myself drawing nearer to God in this great time of need. It was the perfect time to not only see what I was made of but to test my faith in our Lord.

 s the climb of Apple Orchard Falls approached a smile started sliding across my face and I slowly began picking up my pace. I began passing several people as my prayers continued. Each step I was asking God to fill my shoes with his might and power. I don’t remember all that I had began to pray on that mountain top, but I know it was one of the most moving experiences in my life. Over and over again I prayed and mainly thanked Him for being with me, for Him proving to me that all I need to do is ask and truly believe and He will be there. Well, this day I truly believed that He would sustain all the pain in my legs. That He would remove a major blockade in my life and allow me to open my heart and I  truly believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is all-powerful and loving. As the prayers streamed from my heart so did the tears from my face. As many were struggling up the falls, stopping for a breath, leaning against large boulders and swearing over how difficult it was. I slipped by them, one after another. In parts I began to run, my joy was so great. I could literally feel no pain anywhere in my body. In the darkest of hours God granted me the strength and I passed 15 or 16 people on the final climb back to the parkway. Near the top of the falls, I took a slight 5 second pause to take in what a beautiful world this is. And as I crossed the final bridge over the falls, my tears were full blown, I could tell that He made a drastic impact on my life and my faith would never be the same. I knew this day would go down as one of the most spiritual connections I have ever experienced. All the years I’d considered myself “Christian,” I second-guessed. I couldn’t see how I could ignore a God so powerful, and so loving. In a race where I thought I wouldn’t make it half way at best I ended up finishing with a respectable time for myself, and for the amount of training I had put into it. At the end of the race all that was on my mind was how thankful I was and how I wanted to share with everyone how God moved through me that day. I made a commitment that day on the mountain to not ignore His words, to heed his callings and his messages, no matter how small they may appear.