Me? Run a marathon? I had never run more than five miles when I decided to start training for the 26.2-mile race through a club in my high school called Dreamfar. I thought it would be a good challenge—not just athletically, but also spiritually.
I found that I could use the time during the long runs as an opportunity to discipline my thought and focus it on prayer rather than fear.
I trained almost every day, running by myself after school, and with the other runners on Saturdays. At first, these Saturday morning runs were five miles, but they grew longer each week. As the mileage increased, so did my nervousness about the runs. As a Christian Scientist, I knew I could address this fear through prayer. I worked with this idea from The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany: “Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before thee and where its tender lesson is not awaiting thee” (Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 149–150).
