Run from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. 242km [150 miles]. 10 people. Continuous running. Start on the shores of the Dead Sea [an altitude of -415m below sea level]. Run. Through the night. Through the desert to an altitude of +120m above sea level. Arrive at the shores of the Red Sea…specifically at the Gulf of Aqaba.
That was the challenge.
Dead2Red is a race started 14 years ago with two teams. This year thirty-eight teams participated coming from all walks of life and all athletic abilities. Every team plans their own strategy to complete the race within the 24-hour time limit. The first place team was a sponsored team comprised of professional runners who, rumor has it, ran 200m sprints the whole time. They train year round for this run…pretty intense.
Our team’s strategy? Finish. Don’t die. Have fun. :) We rented two buses, had five people in each bus, brought enough food and water [although not enough Gatorade we realized] to get us through 20 hours of running with little rest, and prepared for one of the most challenging and amazing experiences of our lives. The first round we ran ten-minute rounds for 40km. Our bus then rested while the second bus ran their 40km rotations. For the next two rounds, our bus decided to run five minute segments each, making it easier to run faster. Basically, you’d jump out of the bus, grab the baton from the previous runner, run as fast as you could for five minutes while the bus followed you. When you had ten seconds left, the bus would pass the runner [always a great sign!] allowing the next runner time to hop out and be ready to grab the baton from you. Having just completed your run, you’d then jump into bus, walk up and down the aisle, stretch, then prepare to do it all over again.
By the last round we were running 1-2 minute rotations, both buses together taking turns, encouraging one another, pushing each other to finish strong. For the last 200m all ten of us ran, crossing the finish line together. Although it was a long race, I LOVED it!
There was a point, somewhere from 10pm and 1am where we were passing, and being passed, by a few teams. It was so fun to overtake a team, and then have them catch up, and then passing them again…over and over again until we finally got enough distance between them and us where we were no longer neck and neck. It was during this point when our driver, who previously thought he was simply going to be driving us to Aqaba… at the normal speed…not 12km/hour, turned on some loud, amazing Arabic music and started clapping his hands and cheering us on. His enthusiasm, along with our team’s great dance moves and the other team’s competition, pumped us up and gave us the energy we needed to continue to put one foot in front of the other.
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Throughout the race I was continually amazed by God’s creation. I was running across Jordan, next to the Dead Sea, under the stars, through the desert, experiencing the created world. My most memorable worship experiences, the times when I have felt deeply connected with the Lord, have almost all included being surrounded in nature. It is when I’m experiencing and observing what the Savoir of the world has created that I come to realize how great our God is and how worthy He is of our praise, our love, our lives.
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” [Psalm 8:3-4]
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out though all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man, runs its course with joy” [Psalm 19:1-5].
“O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” [Psalm 104:24].
By the time night hit, most of the teams were spread out enough that each time I hopped off the bus, I was running alone in the middle of the desert. The only light was coming from the stars and the bus following closely behind me, lighting the path. The song from childhood Sunday School kept popping into my head: “Thy Word is a lamp onto my feet and a light onto my path…” Only a small part of the road was visible with each step. Beyond the beam of light coming from the bus headlight was pitch darkness. In life we often can’t see very far in front of us. As a child of the Creator of the universe…of the stars, the camels, the sand dunes, and the olive trees… I find it reassuring that He has created all things, and yet still cares for me, still loves me, still desires for me to trust Him, even when I can only see the next step, even when surrounding me is pitch darkness.
Running with my team for the 19:41.20 it took us to complete the race was one of the coolest experiences of my life. What an amazing way to experience this land, this part of the world where people have trekked for thousands of years! What an incredible way to experience God’s creation!
