How to go
What: Run for God 5k Challenge, 12-week training program
Where: Fairhaven Church, 637 E. Whipp Road, Centerville
When: Thursday evenings starting on July 11 at 7 p.m.
Cost: $20 for materials
More info: call (937) 434-8627 or email dsillaman@fairhavenchurch.org or go online to www.reachfortheprize.com
“Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)
Fairhaven Church in Centerville is grabbing the baton from Mitchell Hollis of Dalton, Ga., who initiated the Run for God ministry in 2010. The church is sponsoring a Run for God 5k Challenge beginning July 11.
“As a runner, there are many days we don’t have the motivation or the time, or we don’t feel like it, and it’s the same with our walk with Christ,” said Hollis. “The majority of people who say ‘I can’t’ are really saying ‘I don’t think I can, or I don’t want to.’ ”
Mike Arlt is an avid runner who teaches adult Sunday school at Fairhaven. He found out about Hollis’ Run for God program a little more than a year ago.
“After thinking and praying about this for nearly a year, I had breakfast with two guys from Fairhaven, adult pastor Chip Tudor and Alex Rintoul. Together we decided to bring the Run for God 5k Challenge and Reach for the Prize 5k Run to Fairhaven,” said Arlt.
The 5k Challenge is a practical guide to running with a Christian focus. The 12-week training plan is designed for those who have never run. Participants will graduate by running in the Reach for the Prize 5k on Oct. 5.
“We will meet on Thursday evenings to have a Bible study and learn about running. We will also run together as a group at least once per week,” said Arlt. “The Bible study is topical, we we will be looking at many different passages with an emphasis on the writings of Paul.”
Key verses in the study are Phillipians 3:12-14.
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Paul is referring to the Christian effort toward spiritual growth. In this Run for God challenge, the study will examine the parallels of running and the Christian life. As the participants grow stronger physically, they will also grow in their spiritual walk with Christ.
“Paul oftentimes used athletic metaphors or analogies to illustrate spiritual truth, like a runner running a race,” said Arlt. “And frequently he alludes to this picture of maximum effort as the Christ-follower moves along toward the finish line.”
The people who accept this challenge and cross that finish line in October will also help fund Fairhaven’s charity partner, the Dayton Christian Center. It is a year-round child care program in West Dayton, and citywide collaborations with other faith-based agencies that provide a weekend food backpack program for students, community outreach, and free meals.
“This is the first year for our Run for God 5k Challenge, but the response has been amazing,” said Arlt.
To complete the program, participants will need to walk/run three times per week. Fairhaven representatives will organize a least one group run per week for help and encouragement. The schedule is geared toward those who are inexperienced in running and endurance exercise, and appropriate for anyone in first grade and up. Those interested in training for the Reach for the Prize 5k Challenge will also pay $15-25 to run in the race. With the higher price you get a t-shirt.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)
All 5k finishers will receive a medal and distance sticker. However, the prize that Paul is referring to in his letter to the church in Corinth is worth so much more than an earthly medal. This is a spiritual prize that will not fade, rust or deteriorate. It will be everlasting.
About the Author