marathon memories

Bonita & Jenna Davis, mother and daughter, trained and ran the marathon together. Bonita shares her experience:

This whole experience has truly been life-changing! From the beginning of training six long months ago until now, God has been felt!! These are some of my memories of training:

running around the section on our country roads for our first 4 miler & thinking how difficult it was, Jenna & I running around Dike Lake & dodging all of the goose poop there (Jenna was going nuts:), Jenna & I running from the Mill to Dike for our first 14 miler while we were getting pelted with rain, hail & lightning, running the Pfeiffer/George Wyth loop many, many times, running on vacation at Table Rock with STEEP, STEEP hills, surviving & adjusting to the humidity for a couple of weeks this summer, keeping our training logs/journal, getting my first heart rate monitor watch & tracking miles & calories burned, getting our running shoes, running our first 10 miler & experiencing God in a way I had never before, feeling what it was like to be in the "zone" while running, taking many, many, ice baths after our long runs, making new friends on our team, having the experience that Coach Don brought to our team, the encouragement from the team, reading motivational books, feeling a bond with Jenna that will last forever, straining my right quadricep muscle 6 weeks before the marathon & being devastated that I may not be able to run the marathon, clinging to certain scripture verses & worship songs during recovery from the quad strain, physical therapy for 3 weeks &
3 days!, the incredible support from family & friends especially my dear husband, Shan, the smells, sounds & views as we ran through 3 seasons-spring, summer & fall, the prayers of so many, my first run back after my quad strain-how emotional that was, the many, many bottles of Gatorade/gel we drank/ate, how complete I feel while running, how I feel God's presence when I run, listening to worship music on my Ipod while running, running with my faithful companion (dog) Sophie Grace & being so nervous & anxious the week prior to the marathon & asking a few people to pray for peace & God granted that to my soul.

The day of the marathon was unbelievable!!! All 26.2 miles there were people lining the streets clapping, cheering, smiling & encouraging us!!!!!! It truly was awe-inspiring!! It made me feel a oneness with the world & how much good there is in the world! I remember closing my eyes & saying a prayer for our team as the national anthem was sang before the race, I remember all of the clothes being flung to the side as the runners stripped down to another layer, I remember the EXCITEMENT in my heart when the gun went off, I remember feeling a oneness with all the runners as we all had a story to tell to get us to that point, I remember reading all of the shirts & charity causes people were running for as we ran, I remember looking at the stream of 34,000 runners in front of & behind us & simply being in awe of that, I remember Jenna & I saying to one another at mile 13 that now we could feel that we had been running, I remember feeling so strong & NEVER doubting that we could do it, I remember feeling God's INCREDIBLY STRONG PRESENCE with us both during & after the race, I remember just beaming anytime we would see faces we recognized & loved in the crowd as we ran, I remember holding Jenna's hand as we turned the corner & saw the finish line, I remember lifting our arms together at the end & hugging one another with tears streaming down on our faces. WE HAD DONE IT THROUGH HIM WHO HAD STRENGTHENED US!!!!!!! YIPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

These are the memories that I will never forget!! I haven't been sore in these days after the marathon, I have been able to go up & down stairs easily & even felt so good that I went for a short run on Monday. This I know is all beacuse of our great God! I told Shan it was dangerous that I feel so good because I'm ready to do another one:) But I know it will never top this one because it is so clear that God called this to be & He was & is at the center of EVERYTHING!!! So.... thank you for being a part of this journey! May God bless each & everyone of you! Go & spread His light today!

Blessings & Love, Bonita