Life Review: Running Man Part III

I had some success as a long distance runner.  My best marathon was a 2:32, my best 10k was a 34:00.  My best competitive distance was 50 miles, and on two occasions I ran that distance, on trails and hills of the JFK 50-miler course in 6 hours, 14 mins and some seconds. I was a slow runner, but didn't lose much speed, even when the distances got long.

When I speak to coaches around the world, I make it crystal clear that I am no coach. I tell them a bit about my competitive running success and tell them I would have done much better if I had a decent coach. I then show them a picture of my coach- me!!

Despite my terrible coaching I had a successful competitive career.  I don't recall ever winning a 10k or even a 10-miler. I often placed in the top 3-4 of my age class, but as in all competitive sports, your race results depend more on who shows up than on how fast you might be.

I ended up winning, I think 3 marathons:
The Waynesboro, VA marathon,
The St. Mary's marathon, run in part on the NAS Pax River, my old running grounds,
and, I surprisingly found myself in the lead , and eventually won the middle GA marathon from Fosyth, GA to Macon, GA.  My runner brother, who got me started racing, happened to be coming down the Interstate Hwy, and for some reason, heard that I was leading or had won. He surprised me by showing up at the finish line.  What a thrill.

But I ran a lot, up to 106 miles per week in Lexington, so it's gonna take me another post to get all this down.

Until then, think about running 106 miles in a week!

Life Review: Running Man Part II

My last tour in the US Navy was with a Marine Corps NROTC unit at VMI.  Marines LIKE running.  My boss asked me how much I ran, I told him about 10 miles a day.  His words were, "As long as your work for me, you can run as much as you want to."  I took him at his word.

We were living in a runner's paradise, Lexington, VA.  In those days there was little traffic in Lexington, and I could leave VMI, run across the river, and be in the country in no time. I could run 20 miles, which happened fairly often and only see 3-5 automobiles. Plus the country side was beautiful, rural, and rolling hills. In fact Lexington has very little flat ground.

I had my best years of training, and racing in those 3 years there. The first summer I was sent to temporary duty at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi be in charge of the obstacle course training NROTC students from around the country.  It was there at NAS Corpus that I ran down a jack rabbit.

I was by myself, so in the evenings, after work, I would spend a good bit of time running around the base. One evening I noticed a jack rabbit on the golf course.  I ran around between the rabbit and the rough growth where his den most likely lay. The sun was still up and all I had to do was keep myself positioned between where the rabbit stood, and where he wanted to run. I noted that when he ran he kept stopping in the little bits of shade on the openness of the course. I also noted that after just a few minutes, he was stopping more often.  Rabbits are spring animals, not endurance animals like me.

I kept the rabbit out in the open, and kept him moving, as fast as I could. Finally the rabbit took refuge under an oleander.  He wouldn't leave, just ran round and round the base, which meant he was only running about a 4-foot circle. Finally, he stood on his hind legs and refused to run. I broke a small branch and "counted coup" by tapping him on the head. I ran away and left him to recover.

That was June, 1978, and I still recall it vividly.  Fun, at least for a crazy guy.

Life Review: Running Man Part I

A large part of my young life was spent running.  My brother, David was a highly successful athlete who won a track and field scholarship along with an academic scholarship to Berry College.

In about 1974, my brother suggested that I might want to run the Atlanta 4th of July 10k (in those days). This was about Feb. I went out soon after and ran about 8 miles. I slowly figured out that I was a very slow-twitch muscle guy. This meant I could run long distances, which I quickly did. It didn't take me long to over-do it and get shin splints.

I read everything I could find about running, which wasn't very much in 1974. Runner's World magazine was a small black and white magazine, which I checked out of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station library.

I connected up with my soon-to-be good friend, Roger B., and we ran around the periphery of the Naval Station most lunch times. If I recall correctly, a full circuit was a good 10 miles.

In those days, most races were 10k runs, with an occasional 10 miler.  There were marathons which was the glamour race in those days. My first every marathon was the Washington DC, Marine Corps marathon. I am guessing it was November of 1974. I ran a 2:48, which is pretty quick for a first-timer.  Most importantly I was hooked.

I was flying with the USN a lot in those days.  I ran extensively in England, but also in Spain, Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, The Azores, as well as on many USAF bases, including Eglin and Homestead. I remember getting a bit lost on a long run in Eglin, a huge base.  By the time I was done, I had run about 31 miles to get back to the Officer's quarters.  Whew! 

More in a later post.

England Happenings II

In the last post, we shared a little bit of our trip to jolly ole England. So much happened that we wanted to share just a bit more England Happenings II

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One of the unanticipated highlights for Brenda and I was meeting a Cru staff member named Jimmy R, who ministers in London with his wife and 5 kids under the age of 10. Perhaps because we also have 5 children, or perhaps because of Brenda’s welcoming spirit, Jimmy seemed to love to talk to Brenda, and to me. He shared with us many of the immense challenges he faces. He has an utter commitment to ministry, but also to his family, a tension he shared with us. Please pray with us for Jimmy R and his family and his ministry.

I (Phil) don’t cry too often, but I was brought to tears by one meeting in Greenwich, England. Can you guess what could do that?

Estelle had “by Chance”, run into the Local Cru Team Leader who noticed the evangelistic bracelet that they both wore. He engaged her in conversation and immediately recognized Estelle’s enormous potential as a Christian leader on campus and in the workplace.  He set up a meeting with our traveling team member Dick G, who had been a bank president for 33 years. I tagged along to spend time with Dick, and as Estelle was sharing with him, we all learned that she has a strong desire to become a University prof! I (Phil) was able to share with her about 2 Tim 2:222222222, and encourage her and pray with her that G^d would direct her steps and she would feel G^d’s pleasure. I expect Estelle will impact a great many people for Christ in her lifetime, and perhaps she will do it as a Professor!

Brenda had a vital conversation with Matthew, a law student, and she was able to give him some crucial advice on relationships within his church congregation. Brenda and I also got to encourage Ane Mary, a German undergrad who studies Classical languages and too wants to become a professor. We had a wonderful conversation with her and prayed for her.

Brenda and I think back on the terrific people we met: Dick and Kay, Oli, Pam, Meredith and Rush (Auburn grads), Mary Grace, Nicole, Nathan (a French non-believer with whom Dick shared the gospel), Gio, Faith, Erica, Holly… too much to tell!

So, once again, thanks for your prayers and donations! Remember, anything we accomplish is partially attributable to you as well!  Thanks too for your friendship.

England Happenings I

Brenda and I recently returned from a Faculty Commons mission trip to England! It was NOT boring by  any stretch. We spent 2 weeks there, and we certainly could never sum up the breadth of our experiences in one short page.  But, here are a few highlights:

I (Phil) got to meet with Christian Faculty of both Sunderland and New Castle Unis.  Although our time together was cut short by the unexpected snowy conditions (for which neither we nor Newcastle was fully prepared), we were able to encourage them and gain some novel insights into ministry.

Together we spent time on three occasions with fairly large groups of students. As usual, Brenda’s empathetic, loving nature served her well as she was able to quickly bond with both happy, and hurting people.

Together we got to spend some quality time with a wonderful group of Christian missionaries in both New Castle and in London.

I (Phil) attended a conference on Artificial Intelligence conducted by the English equivalent of Faculty Commons. As one might expect, it was substantially different from Christian Faculty conferences in the USA.  Again, a great time for making contacts and for learning new ways to see faculty ministry.

We’ll save some space for pictures, and will share a bit more in our next letter. Thanks to YOU for supporting us financially and in prayer. The trip was cold, tiring, and long, but we look forward to impacting eternity through some of these meetings.  Until then, please keep praying for the Univeristy and the world!

Salesmen hate me

Salesmen hate me.

I am an extreme SKEPTIC.  I doubt all; I am NOT easily convinced.  And, this has served me very well as a scientist. And surprisingly, to some, very well as a Christian.

I have been in some kind of church virtually my whole life. I have been to all the Christian church functions, the Christmases, and Easters, the graded-choir programs, the evangelistic outreaches- if you know what those are. It was fairly easy for me at age 11 to declare my faith in G^d, who provided Himself a means for me, a fallen sinner, who was disobedient, to come into relationship with a Holy, Just G^d who could not associate with my sin. Through all this Christian exposure, I had learned that my actions had everything to do with me being disobedient to G^d, but no utility in allowing me into the presence of the Truly Perfect G^d. I understood that the historical Jesus had lived a perfect life, then DIED for my sake. Christ’s sacrifice, His perfection, satisfied G^d’s JUST nature and enabled me to come into G^d’s Holy presence.

In the 57 years since I have become a Follower of Jesus Christ, I have sought out objections to Following Christ. I have solicited from educated people and considered reasons NOT to believe. I watched Bill Maher’s film “Religulous”, and read most of Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (it was so weak I never finished it). And, yet now, I believe still. 

Maybe you have objections too. I am with you, and probably have considered most of your objections myself. And, understand this, despite my doubts, objections, skepticism, I still follow The Christ, more devoutly than ever before.

Sights in Ole England

We stayed quite busy in the UK, but in our spare moments we couldn't resist fleeing to the museums, castles, and other sights. Here are the key ones we saw:

Yes, this counts! It was a beautiful display of desserts in one of the many fine restaurants in York.

This is the "Measurement car" at the National RR Museum in York.

This is Longitude 0 at the Greenwich Observatory, home of Greenwich Mean Time.

 A typical narrow street in York, England.

 A wonderful pivoting bridge in Newcastle.  The bridge pivots to the left to raise the bridge.

Just another beautiful church in York.

 Yep, in the stocks again in Newcastle castle.

 Yep, Comrade Lenin slept (and lived) in London for a while.

Neat to see all this up front and personal. G^d has blessed us indeed.

Friends in The Fatherland

We really enjoy seeing the sights wherever we visit, but MUCH more valuable to us are the people we meet. In these shots are Faculty members from Newcastle and Sunderland, an American exchange student who hopes to be a pastor, A group of students from Northumbria where our marriage seminar was cancelled due to weather, some Cru colleagues in London, and the son of one of our Cru Missionary friends in Newcastle, and a prof and his wife who invited us for dinner.
Can you match the photo to the caption??

Return to Joly Ole...

Several blog posts back I mentioned that Brenda and I had been part of a Cru Missionary Team, visiting England. We had just finished a Christian Faculty Conference in Woodstock, GA the day before we boarded a plane in ATL for Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. From there we flew into Newcastle, England, right up on the edge of Scotland on the NE coast of England.

We had been here a few years ago.  Newcastle is a large city, but relative to London, it had a "homey" feel, and we began to grow comfortable there after only a couple of days.

Our friends, the Refearns, live in Newcastle where Jon is a pastor of a Church there. On our last visit with traveled some with their son, Tom, so we were excited to see him again. Jon is a terrific photographer, and we were able to buy a book of his photos from Italy. He had photographed the major scenes of Florence, Venice, and a bit of Roma and Pisa. We have, over the years, visited all of these places, so these picts have special significance to us.

We ministered at Sunderland University, and at Newcastle and Northumbria Unis too. We'll say more about that next post.  

By the way, the snow only stopped on the day we left Newcastle for London!