Orphan Love Mud Run

Saturday, we participated in the first annual Orphan Love Mud Run.  There is an incredible group of families in Ada, OK that has started an organization called It's A Child's Life.  They put in an enormous amount of time setting up for this run.  It was awesome! 

Our friends, Lloyd and Kelli Belt are adopting Addi May from Ethiopia.  They also participated in the run.  Elizabeth, Kelli's sister-in-law also ran for Addi.  Here we are after the run.  We are not nearly as clean as we look.

Friday evening, the families that make up It's A Child's Life hosted a meet n' greet for the adoptive families that were participating in the run.  We had a great time getting to know some families that are walking the same path we are on.  We met a family that is adopting 2 babies domestically.  We met families that are adopting from China, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Haiti.  I knew it was going to be a great evening, but really I had no idea how it would touch my heart!

Saturday morning we headed back to Ada prepared to run in the mud.  I was NOT prepared for what I experienced!  When you are training for a 5k Mud Run do not train on a flat surface!  That seems like common sense, but seriously I went about this all wrong.  Kelli, Elizabeth, Mat and I started together in the second group.  It did not take long until I could no longer see them.  I had been jogging (mostly walking) what seemed like forever when people from the third group started passing me.  I realized at that point that it was going to be a long morning!

Even though I didn't run the entire track I pushed myself to do things I really didn't think I could do.  Several times during the morning there were no other people around and I had some great "thinking" time.  I thought about how this run was similar to our adoption.  The majority of the track was uphill.  There were times that I thought I couldn't take one more step.  I wasn't sure the race would ever be over.  There are days that I feel like Isaac will never come home, that I am climbing an uphill track that will never end, but just like I crossed the finish line yesterday I believe that Isaac will come home in God's perfect time!

I had made it about 3/4 of the way through and I was feeling discouraged.  I was tired, alone, and I wasn't sure I could keep going.  What felt like out of nowhere a lady ran up from behind me and the rest of her group caught up within just a minute.  They asked if I'd like to finish the race with them.  They gave me the encouragement I needed to finish the race. One of the last obstacles was climbing down and then back up a steep embankment.  I was nervous to say the least, but as I started climbing down my new friends were cheering "Necia, Necia, Necia" over and over. 

I made it down and back up and went on to finish the last obstacle.  I had to swing on a rope to try and miss the mud pit.  I didn't make it.  I actually bounced off a bale of hay and landed awkwardly at the edge of the pit.  I waded through the mud just for fun :)  At that point I really didn't think I could get any dirtier.

I almost forgot to add that I swam across a pond.  I DO NOT normally swim in ponds, but I made an exception.  I will definitely do this run again, but next time I will train a little differently.