Corredores con Cristo

In mid June, I had the extraordinary opportunity to help chaperone Instituto El Rey's first ever distance running team -- the Corredores con Cristo � to La Prensa�s International Marathon in San Pedro Sula. It was really a half-marathon, but 21 kilometers (13 miles) is still quite a distance, especially for a culture where running is pretty weird. The students had been training for some four months under the instruction of Chris Struna, with help from Larry Smoak (who ran also), which in itself demonstrated remarkable discipline, goal-orientation, and courage.

The real joy was seeing those guys, in their bright yellow "Instituto El Rey" jerseys, walking the streets of Honduras� second-largest city � the biggest city most of them had ever seen � and running their hearts out. In this great city, surrounded by runners from all over Central America with expensive shoes and fancy running suits, these eight young men � it was extraordinary. Our top finisher, Lesbin, was clocked at 1:36, and many of the others were right around two hours. Our last finisher, Kilmer, a seventh grader and son of a hardworking farmer from El Pital, had us worried as the race had long since ended and he was still missing. When we found him, I asked if he was hurting, and he said, �No! I feel great � like I never ran.� It turns out he stopped to walk with another runner about his age who was in a lot of pain. �Finish the race!� we said � and he shook his head. He had already done what he came to do.

So, not only did our boys compete well, they also gave credence to the �Jesu Cristo es el Rey� blazoned on their backs.

The cast of characters:
Durbyn
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