God Gets The Last Word; Yes, He Does!

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.
In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen.
-1 Peter 5:6-11 NLT

"The Message" translates verse 11 this way: "He gets the last word; yes, he does."

Run for Missions Update: 5 days away!

Thanks for your support of and interest in for the “Run for Missions”! Allen and I are excited, trained, and ready to tackle this challenge and fulfill our commitment for the pledges that so many individuals and churches have so generously made and sent.

The run starts on Monday, November 3rd at 6:30am, from the Ministry Center office at 2018 Maple in Wichita. Many have asked about the route. We’ll wind up to 21st street in Wichita and proceed west on 21st for almost 50 miles without making a single turn. We’ll wind through Kingman and Pratt counties staying north of 54 on country roads until we get to Pratt where we’ll run right through on 54 in the middle of the night. We’ll cover the final miles on the country roads between Pratt and Haviland and come in to Haviland on the county road from the North. The finish line crossing celebration will be 10:30 am on Tuesday morning, November 4th in front of Phillips Hall at Barclay College.

If you would like to join Allen and I for any portion of the journey on foot or bike, it would be a lot of fun so please contact me to make arrangements. You are also invited to the starting line send off on Monday or the finish line celebration at Barclay on Tuesday. Also, Allen’s wife Nancy will be driving a crew vehicle point to point to provide support (water and food) throughout the day and night and would love company.

The total in pledges as of today is $10,735! Actual income is about half of that so if you haven’t yet sent your gift, please do so by November 15th. If you have already sent your check, thank you! Of course, we’re still accepting pledges and donations so please share these attached flyers with others. A full report on the run will be sent as soon as possible after the run.

Adam Monaghan and Allen Smelser

Would you be willing to sponsor Allen and Adam at $1 per mile in a 100 mile run in November for Friends Mission Scholarships?

Since 2005, EFM-Mid America Missions Mobilizers have supervised a scholarship fund to grant scholarships to missions students. Their desire is to give affirmation and support to EFC-MAYM College and Graduate students responding to a “call” to missions, intending to serve on the Friends Mission Field.

In order to raise funds for this Scholarship, the EFM-Mid America Missions Mobilizers have sponsored a “Run For Missions”. Allen Smelser (Stanwood Friends) and Adam Monaghan will run 100 miles, from Wichita to Haviland, KS, on November 3rd! We hope to raise at least $10,000 to support this scholarship fund. We are seeking at least 100 supporters to give $100 dollars ($1 per mile) by November 15th. Over 100 people or churches have already committed $100 by the end of October. Will you please join them? Please contact Adam Monaghan at the Friends Ministry Center 316-267-0391 adam@efcmaym.org.

You can make your tax-deductible donation by writing a check to “EFC-MAYM”, memo: “Run for Missions”; send to 2018 Maple, Wichita, KS 67213 by November 15th.

Rock Creek 50K

Saturday it was back to Lake Perry and the Rock Creek Trail Series. The weather was just perfect, with a cold start and a warm 60 degrees at mid day with a light north breeze. The trail was extra beautiful with the leaves turning colors and falling to the ground. There was very little mud even though it had rained quite a bit in the week prior. I didn't hardly walk at all other than up the steep hills. It definitely felt like I ran just the right race. I had a fun pack of older (I hope they don't read this blog, but mid to late 40s isn't "old", just way older than me! and it must say something about my slow pace when I end up consistently running in multiple races with the same pack of masters women!) women following my pace from the beggining so we ran together with me as the lead guy. By the end, it was only Debbie Webster (48) from near Kansas City, who could keep up. Oh, and I met another guy named Roy, I think, who has run 256 marathons and ultras and had plans on running another 50K the next day just a couple hours away. Now that's crazy!

I finished the 50K (31 miles) in 6:29:27, which averages out to slightly less than 12:30 miles. I've heard that in ultrarunning, a 12 minute mile is fairly respectable (maybe the equivalent of a 9-minute road mile or something?), so I'm almost there. It was my PR for the 50K by 37 minutes (Flatrock 07, 7:06). I finished 20th out of 39 finishers and 3rd in my age division of 20-29. Well, okay, there were only three of us anyway.

Allen Smelser finished too in 7:25, so we both feel trained, ready, and pumped for Monday's 100 mile Run for Missions.

Check out these great pictures of the event, thanks to Gary Henry and ultrastory.com:
http://ultrastory.com/Rock_creek_08_photos.htm

Check out Ultrastory.com!

News about my Heartland 100 mile finish made it into fellow ultra-runner and new respected friend with three 100-mile finishes including Leadville, Gary Henry's website, ultrastory.com.

See story at: http://ultrastory.com/unews.htm

*note than my previous longest run was actually the 100k (62 mile) finish in April at Free State Trail Run at Clinton Lake, where Allen Smelser and I finished about several minutes ahead of Gary! We knew Gary was coming up out of the woods in the pitch dark because even before we could see the light from his headlamp, we could hear him whistling the tune to "Rocky" as he crossed the finish line!

Give Me Your Eyes

I really liked this new song we learned yesterday at Crossroads.

"Give Me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath
LISTEN/WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTsYAZvHsEQ

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black tile
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?

Chorus:
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide whats underneath
Theres a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work
He's buying time
all those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?

Chorus
I've been there a million times
A couple of million eyes just move and pass me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all alone
Chorus (x2)

Round Table 2008

Round Table October 17 - 21, 2008

Youth Pastors and Leaders from Friends Church Mid America gathered at Quaker Ridge Camp

The Aspen trees are great this time of the year in Colorado

Great friends David & Megan Frazier (Youth Pastor at Miami, OK)

View of Pikes Peak from New Life Church where we attended Sunday morning

View of Pikes Peak from Quaker Ridge Camp where we had Round Table

Pikes Peak view from the top of Soldier Mountain which I climbed with Manny & Jenna Lee Garcia (Youth Pastor, Pratt, KS)

I don't know!

Heartland 100 Pictures

Nearing the aid station at mile 35

Running with my new friend Christina, from Washington

Kansas is not flat! The Kansas Flint Hills are beautiful!

Heartland 100 Report

Heartland 100 Report
October 11-12, 2008

The anticipation and excitement for the Heartland “Spirit of the Prairie” 100 mile run was intense. After the heartbreak at Leadville, the desire to finish and finish well was up an extra notch. The anticipation in the days leading up to the race was comparable to how I felt before my first marathon. I was thinking what will it feel like beyond mile 62? How much is this going to hurt? Will I be able to finish?

I drove the Mullen mini-RV to Cassody on Friday evening in time to pick up my race packet and find a parking space at the city park before dark. I ate my picnic supper and visited with other runners before going to bed. When my alarm when off at 4:30, my first thought was wait a minute, why am I doing this again? 100 miles! Adam, you really must be crazy!

It was chilly and windy at the 6:00 am start line with the 109 other starters in the 50 and 100 mile race. But I knew that within just a few minutes I’d warm up and be just fine in my short sleeve shirt and running shorts. Someone (it was dark) said “go” and we ran about ¼ mile on the highway before turning left onto a the rocky back roads. It would be another 99 ½ miles before we saw that the ¼ of pavement again.

The first hour which consisted of at least 5 miles was all in the dark. I didn’t want to carry a head lamp for several hours in the day light so I just followed a few other runners who had lights. The road wasn’t exactly “dirt”. I’d describe it as a sharp, rocky road. Many sections are more like rocky trail (a few parts almost as bad as Flatrock) than dirt road. The time and the miles began to fly by as I locked into a good pace and chatted with other runners. Once the sun came up, I realized I was running about the same pace as Christina from Washington. She was a really nice 57 year old lady, if I remember right, who reminded me (in personality and friendliness and perspective on life) of Brockie (Harvey) Follette from Iowa. If those two ladies met, they’d both see my comparison as a high compliment. Christina was very nice, very talkative, and very interesting. She has been a runner for 20 years and has logged 100 ultras and 70 marathons! She ended up only making it 50 miles this time because of a toe problem, but that 50 miles makes this her 100th ultra! Wow! I ran with her pretty much from the beginning until mile 42.

The day became very warm, with the highs around 80 degrees and very sunny. I used a bandana under my hat to shield my face and neck from the heat and sun. I carried a camelback strapped to my waist with water (and ice mid day!) to stay hydrated and keep cool. The every 5 or 6 mile aid stations had water and food that I constantly consumed to keep my energy level high. Matt Macy, Cal Leslie and Lyle Shaffer from Crossroads met me on their motorcycles at mile 35 snapping pictures (coming soon…) and giving me high-fives and encouragement. That was a great boost!

The scenery of the run in the Flint Hills of Chase County, Kansas was superb! Kansas is not flat. We saw way more cows that we did people during the course.

Allen Smelser, my good friend and running partner, who is to blame for all my participation in ultra-marathons, joined me with fresh legs at mile 42 ½. Not a moment too soon! My first troubled spot was about mile 48 where my energy level and resolve dropped and all I could do was think about “52 more miles”. But the saying “It Never Always Gets Worse” proved true again and after some chicken noodle soup and the ½ sloppy joe sandwich, energy and vitality and excitement and resolve came back and we picked up the pace, running fairly well between mile 52 and 65. My mom and brother came to visit me and joined me for about ¼ of a mile around mile 58. Andrew made a sign that said “Go Adam” and on the back it said “You’re Almost There!” What a cruel, funny joke! Their visit was encouraging as well.

About mile 64, I almost ran into a snake. I yelled and ran quickly around it and on up the hill. Allen, who apparently is not afraid of snakes, reached over to pick it up and right before touching it realized it was a rattlesnake! Needless to say, every stick or branch or line in the road was a snake for the next several hours of darkness. I jumped several more times at all the “snakes” I saw. At mile 65 we ate some Power Pellets as Dave, the aid station manager called them (beans and chili with meat) and took off again. We reached mile 75 by 1:00 am and were very encouraged by the time. Mile 75 through 83 went fine, with a huge downhill running section. During this stretch, around 2:00 am we began to feel sleepy. My eyes were heavy and I wished I could sleep. But for Allen, it was much worse! At least twice we were running down the road side by side and Allen started veering off sharply to the left. I said, “Allen, are you awake?” His answer both times was a “No”! Allen says he was sleepy until the sun came up. My sleepy spell thankfully lasted only 30 minutes. When I realized what was happening (sleepiness), I picked up the pace a little bit and that helped to increase the heart-rate and the sleepiness went away.

Mile 83 to 92 was the worst stretch. For some reason (haha “some reason”!?), these 9 miles were the most physically challenging part of the whole course for me. The hills were intense during this section and the rocks seemed to be sharp and way more frequent than the first time I covered that section the previous morning. Allen was walking and I was running just to keep up with his walk. My back decided not to straighten out for a while so I leaned over with both hands on my back just limpwalking/jogging along trying just trying to get to the next aid station. After what seemed like forever, I arrived at the aid station at mile 92 before dawn. I ate several pancakes and started getting excited about the finish line!

The last 8 miles were really fun. Although my legs and body hurt (especially my feet) with every step, I picked up the pace more and more as I got closer to the finish. I would guess that the last couple miles were close to 8-9 minute mile pace. Once I returned to the ¼ mile of highway, I ran as fast as a could across the finish line. It wasn’t a sprint, but it was pretty fast. Crossing that finish line was such a rush of emotion and excitement. As ridiculous as this sounds, I actually had the feeling that I wanted to keep going. (See FAQ #5)

Sprinting to the finish line!

I finished 33 out of 53 finishers (out of 67 starters) in the 100 mile with the time of 26:38:20. To see race results: http://www.ksultrarunners.org/hlresults08.pdf. Another interesting factoid is that the total elevation change in the 100 mile is about 6,000 feet. Kansas is not flat!

Limping to the front to receive my finishers belt buckle at the awards ceremony!

Visiting with Allen and Christina just after crossing the finish line!

Sitting in the tent after it was over!

Frequently Asked Questions
What did you eat?
During the course of the race I drank lots of water, some Gatorade-type fluids, mountain dew and coca-cola (for caffeine and sugar to stay awake). I ate several pretzels, M & Ms, GU and Powerbar gels, Pringles, orange slices, several bananas, cookies, PB&J sandwiches, chili, watermelon, cantaloupe, several cups of chicken noodle and ramen noodle soups, pancakes, and even a ½ sloppy joe sandwich and much more! Good thing I don’t eat like that every day! I also consumed an electrolyte replacement pill about every hour during the heat of the day and every other hour throughout the night.

Did you walk?
Yes, of course! The general practice in an ultra (unless you are an elite, I guess) is to try to run all the flats and down hills and walk all the up hills. I ran a lot in the first 50 miles. I walked quite a bit in the last 50 miles but was surprised about how much I did run, though the running pace in the last half is quite slow. A good rule is “don’t miss a chance to walk in the first half” (to conserve energy for the second half), and then its corollary conclusion is “and don’t miss a chance to run in the second half” (because it’s exponentially harder on your body in the second half). I certainly ran most of this 100 miles!

Did you ever stop or sleep?
Not me. I never slept, of course, though Allen may have caught a few zzz’s while running. You stop long enough to fill your water pack and grab some food. During the middle of the night at a couple of the age stations, I did sit down for a couple minutes to eat my soup.

Was this your “Run for Missions” fundraiser?
No. While it does seem crazy to try to run 100 miles twice in the span of 3 weeks, Heartland and the “Run for Missions” are two separate events. The “Run for Missions” starts at 6:30 am on Monday, November 3rd. Allen Smelser and I plan to run all the way from the Friends Ministry Center in Wichita to the campus of Barclay College in Haviland to raise money for Friends Missionary student scholarships. We’ve received over $9,200 in pledges already and our goal is to get well over $10,000!

Are you crazy?
Well, maybe. But this 100 mile run was a whole lot of fun and I honestly can’t wait to do it again! I love running marathons so I figured, why not try to run four of them back to back all in one day!

CHARLES W. SNYDER 1933–2008

Charles Snyder, was born on August 22, 1933 at Bentley, Kansas, the son of Berley E. and Roxie S. Pauley Snyder.
He retired from the Morton Salt Co. after 20 years and later worked for Reno Country Area Transit for four years. He was a driver for Roadrunner Driveaway at the time of Death. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, and attended the Union Valley Bible Church in Hutchinson.
He married Haruko "Tiny" Tanaka on August 15th, 1957 in Fukuoka, Japan; and to them one son was born Mark. Tiny died on August 4, 1996. Charlie later married Linda Folle on August 27th, 2008 in Hutchinson. She survives.
Other survivors are his son Mark and his wife Cindy of Hutchinson, a brother James Fuller of Hutchinson, and grandchildren, Adam, Alicia and Alexia Morales all of Hutchinson. He was preceded in death by his parents, and a sister Irene E. Paulson.

100 Miles!

I finished the Heartland 100 mile run Sunday morning in 26 hours and 28 minutes. What a fun, exhilarating, challenging, and awesome experience! A full report to come later...