Day One

Today, our youth cross-country program got underway. Eighteen kids were there. Two were not signed up, two who had signed up weren't there. Most ran two laps of the park (1.6 miles), a few ran just one (0.8 mi), and one kid, who'd been out of the program in the spring did three.

We're trying to set up our schedule of meets, which are on Sunday mornings. I'm not sure if there are Saturday meets available - I don't want to penalize churchgoers. I'd had a conversation over the summer with a very fine runners who is also a born again Christian. One of the topics we'd touched on was whether racing on Sunday was a violation of the Sabbath or if it is a celebration of the gifts given you by the Lord.

He'd pointed out to me that that was one of the themes that was touched on in the movie Chariots of Fire. I don't recall the name of the athlete involved, but, after not competing on Sundays in (or in the run-up to) the 1908 Olympics, his eventual decision on the topic was that competing on Sundays was a way to glorify the Lord and the gifts he'd given us. While it's not my place to make any decisions for the kids, I'd also like to be sure that doors are not closed to them as a result of decisions I help make.