rechelle's lifelyrics

Last Sunday, our oldest daughter completed the 2023 New York City Marathon. We helped by watching their 2 boys for part of the time she was on her trip, and on Sunday, we tried to be a part of her monumental event from our home in Oregon while she was racing on the other side of the continent. We downloaded the app to our phones, set up tracking of her and her running companion in the app, and tuned in to the marathon as it was televised live, all over the world, Sunday morning.

Kacia (pronounced “KAY-sha”) qualified for the New York Marathon 2 years ago in a half-marathon race she completed in Medford, Oregon. So much has happened in the last 2 years, and especially in the past several months leading up to her chance to participate in this huge challenge, that it became clear there were many unknowns that our daughter was facing as she got on the plane last Friday. She had a recent injury and sickness that plagued her training schedule. She had many changes to her home & work life, along with childcare & schooling adjustments for their two small children, literally, weeks before she would be setting out to accomplish a feat that requires months of diligent dedication and focus. However, she tried to make adjustments to her training regimen and expectations for her race outcome as best as she could with the understanding that she was facing the unknown in so many ways beyond her control.

Sunday morning came, and we were so excited to get a glimpse of our girl in her milestone event. To my amazement, Kacia and her teammate were making excellent time, especially considering their pact to “take it slow” and “enjoy the journey.” We did our best to see her pass by the camera feeds as they happened in several spots along the 26.2 mile race through New York City. Though our efforts seemed futile, we were able to share in the thrill of seeing her and her running companion pass through the finish line with their hands clasped together and their expressions of victory as they accomplished their goal.

When I picked Kacia up from the airport on Tuesday, I got a better perspective of what their experience was like, and the benefit of all of their training and preparation leading up to the unknowns of their race in New York. She told me about how hard it was to finish the last two miles of the race. She talked about the focus skills she had to use during the run, and I couldn’t help but compare it to so many hard things we all face in life. She said it was so important to concentrate on the fact that “I can do this right now – in this moment,” instead of looking ahead to see “I still have that far to go to finish?” Seriously, it makes sense to realize that if you look too far into the depth of the unknown that you face, it is way too easy for your brain to simply say, “I can’t,” or “I’ll never make it,” or even worse, “I’ll probably die trying to do this!” But with patience and perseverance, it is amazing and wonderful to get to the other side of all the questions, pain, and struggle to the final victory of finishing the race.

Everyone who finished the New York Marathon got these amazing medals to keep for the rest of their lives. It is an emblem of a great accomplishment that can be a reminder of how to look hardship in the eye, and beat it back with courage and the knowledge that it is another challenge to overcome, instead of letting it paralyze with thoughts of defeat.

Everyone faces the unknown in every day of our lives. I hope we can all learn something from people who accomplish amazing things through their dedication to stick to the end goal like a marathon runner.