The Jaycee Relays and the Boston Marathon

It was a beautiful afternoon at Swegle Elementary School, in Salem, Oregon. Our third grade class headed outside to the track, and prepared for Jaycee Relay time trials. This annual event featured a 100m run in which the top-4 fastest boys and girls were invited to be on a relay team for each grade, representing your school. It was a high honor and third grade was the last year in which I would be given that honor.

When my teacher said “go” I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Mr. Burns laughed hysterically as I crossed the finish line and gave me a childhood nickname, that thankfully, didn’t stick: “Crazy legs Castaneda.” More importantly, though, I had a fast enough time to make the boys team.

On race-day, I was so thankful for that team of runners. I wasn’t the fastest guy on the team (in fact, I’ve never been a very fast runner; always envious of the fast and natural runners around me!) but I knew that with our team we could do well. If we made clean baton handoffs, if we stayed in our lanes and focused on our running and not the runners around us, I knew we had a chance. Our second place finish was testament to the power of team; the power of community.

Now that I’m preparing for my first long-distance run, I’m even more envious of the fast, natural runners. I read Born to Run and I’m not convinced there’s a natural runner residing somewhere in my body, however, I’m committed to learning and making my 1/2 marathon as meaningful as possible.

One of the first people I met who is a true "natural runner" is Evelyn Young. I was the youth pastor at Bethany Baptist in Salem, Oreon when Evelyn and her husband Aaron started attending. It wasn’t long before Traci and I learned about her passion for running. She is a runner. She runs because it’s in her blood. She can’t help herself.

When my wife and I hosted our first 6.21k solstice run, Eveyln came and competed. She took first for the women that year, and then again for three years in a row. She usually jogged from her house, to the park where the race was hosted. She took a few warm up laps around a nearby track, ran the race, then ran it again to “cool down.” She loves running and she has been a source of information, and inspiration, for me as I’ve undertaken a running goal for 2014.

In fact yesterday, Evelyn competed in her first Boston Marathon. You might remember last year’s marathon was tragically ended when a bomb exploded near the finish line. The ensuing car chase, man hunt and eventual shoot-out led to a whole community coming together. Strangers housed strangers to get them off the streets during the chaos. Stories emerged of people serving the medical needs of others even risking their own safety in the unknown aftermath of the first bomb. The event brought people together in such strong fashion, even the Boston Red Sox used it a motivation for their playoff run and world series victory in 2013.

Yesterday, Evey was uniting with thousands of runners who were standing with Boston and with the global community that was a part of the event. These runners were letting evil people know that Boston won’t be deterred, and the community won’t give in to fear.

Community is a powerful weapon against fear. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to make sure you have others in your life who are headed the same direction you are -- others willing to live the Overboard Life with you. We all will face opposition. We all be confronted by real and often dangerous fears, and we will all need the support of others to keep going.

Maybe that’s why the writer of Hebrews uses the “us” and “we” pronouns instead of the “you” and “your” in Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus...” If everyone’s race was an individual event, seems like he would have just said, “Since YOU are surrounded...throw off everything that hinders YOU...and fix YOUR eyes on Jesus...” There is power in “us” when we run the race Jesus has set before us.

How strong is your running community? As you think about running your race, I think it’s a great idea for you to have a coach (someone helping you) and a student (someone you can help). And As you strengthen your running community, I think you’ll find your race a whole lot easier to run.

8 down, 32 to go.

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

2 weeks later: what can we learn from the Boston bombings?

Two weeks ago our nation was hit with yet another tragedy of violence. Terrorists (because only that term seems appropriate) attacked innocent people without any pity, killing three and injuring scores of others. Even an 8-year-old child had his life taken when their bombs went off. In the aftermath, police officers were injured, a campus cop was killed and one of the two suspects forfeited his life, too. Nobody won in the tragedy at the Boston Marathon.

As I’ve sat back and tried to think through the sickness involved in this tragedy, it’s been interesting to watch how people have used this event for their own agendas. Politicians, for or against gun-control, quickly pounced on Boston as support for their position. I’ve read blogs and editorials on the need for immigration reform, gun bans, hardware store background checks on certain purchases (seriously!) and one tongue-and-cheek piece on new legislation for mandatory background checks and required registry for anyone wanting to buy a pressure cooker.

Whatever your angle, you can probably find some sort of support in almost any tragedy, and that in itself, is a bit of a tragedy.

But there are moments of compassion, kindness and courage that rise up in the face of adversity. What do we learn from these selfless acts of service: the powerful impact of people living the Overboard Life. People like…

The first responders. The men and women of Boston’s police force, and the many EMTs, nurses and doctors involved in the medical care of victims and survivors was unreal. Without concern for the possibility of more bombs, these people thrust themselves in the middle of the chaos to help save lives, and some with a goal to capture the perpetrators.

The runners. Many of the runners put themselves in harm’s way, by working to help move the crowds to safety. Imagine having run 20+ miles of a marathon, hearing explosions on either side of you, and then having the courage to not sprint away to safety, but instead, to make sure spectators are ushered away.

The other runners. Some runners did take off after they heard the explosions. They were the ones who ran to nearby hospitals and donated blood because they knew there was going to be an immediate need. That’s right…they ran 26.2 miles, then sprinted to a hospital to give blood I’m sure their bodies would have been happy to keep.

The volunteers: My wife and I have hosted a 6.21k race (about 3.8 miles) race. It takes about 20-25 volunteers to pull off that little race for 150 racers. Multiply that force by 100 in order to get what you need for the Boston Marathon and you might get close to the total number of volunteers walking the streets, holding signs, passing out water, marking memorials (for the Newton children) and cheering on racers. Hundreds of volunteers took time to help the wounded, to protect the fallen and keep themselves in harm’s way until help arrived.

The people of Boston. Did you hear how people in Boston just opened their homes to total strangers? As the chaos was unraveling, many people in the city opened their doors and welcomed runners, bystanders and anyone who needed shelter into their homes. They fixed meals while the city was on lockdown and there were dozens of reports of guests staying overnight in the care of people entirely unknown to them.

I could go on, but you’ve probably read all the stories, and know about the amazing men and women and children who helped while others ran; who stayed calm while a few crazies looted stores, and who risked their own safety in order to ensure the safety of others.

As I reflected on that I kept wondering, “what makes a person react in such a way?” Is it just a particular personality type? Is it just the fight-or-flight response to adrenaline? Then I listened more to interviews and read more conversations and I started to understand this: these amazing people responded that way, because that’s who they are.

When it comes to the Overboard Life, we have to learn to live Overboard all the time! That way, when those moments come and there is a need for someone to stand in the gap when others fall away, we’ll be ready. It won’t be a matter of trying to muster the courage for a moment of need, it will be a matter of doing what is already natural -- stepping out in faith because faith is where we already live.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the people who acted courageously weren’t scared, or that it was easy for them to respond so bravely. My point is, in the moment of fear, panic and uncertainty, those courageous individuals did what they already were used to doing -- reaching past their own worries, self-doubt and heightened sense of danger and reaching toward life-saving action. These were people who had passed the test in the “small things” of life, and they were ready when the big things came.

Let’s learn from this tragedy, and the one in West Texas, too (where in the same fashion, people sacrifice their own safety, and in many cases their own lives, in order to ensure the safety and life of others). We can never know when key moments will strike, but we can have a gauge to know if we’ll be ready when they do. How? By practicing Overboard living in the small details. You see, we don’t know when God will give us opportunity to show our faith, but by practicing daily -- we’ll have a much better chance of being ready.

So go ahead and take the plunge, every day, life is always better on the water!