Since I was a little kid, I wanted to run a marathon. It was one of those things, like skydiving, eating at a Michelin-starred restaurant (I’m talking to you, Alinea Chicago), and traveling the world that was always on my bucket list.
I never was a runner. Sure, I did track and field in middle school, but soccer was much more of my thing. It was kind of my life. Ask me up until age 13 or 14 what I wanted to be when I was an adult and I would answer “a professional soccer player.” Little did I know playing soccer year-round for 16 years straight would drain me of much of my passion that had always been there in the year past.
In high school, with senior year approaching and my role as captain of the soccer team being nearly certain, I quit the team. I guess I just didn’t have enough drive or passion to want to continue playing soccer any longer. I did, however, have passion built up inside me to check something off of my bucket list: running a marathon.
Naturally, being from Illinois, I wanted to run in Chicago. I knew it was one of the more-popular marathons and because of that, was hard to get into. I also knew I didn’t want to run this marathon just for myself. I wanted to run for something bigger, something more.
Eventually, I stumbled across Oasis for Orphans after researching some of the local Chicago-area non-profits/charities offering fundraising opportunities in exchange for a spot in the race.
I knew seconds after coming across Oasis for Orphans that this was who I was meant to run for. I had personally seen God work through orphaned children in my life, whether it be my cousins adopted from Ghana or other kids in my church family, so being able to do my part in helping to solve this global problem was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
After training for weeks throughout the summer, the time had finally come to run for Oasis. I had the incredible opportunity to meet the team the night before the race over a delicious carb-heavy dinner and Chicago sunset.
Being from small-town Jacksonville, Illinois, I never had met any of the team in real life, so being able to do so was such a blessing. God was working through everyone there, and I could tell that each person, regardless of their time goal, was running not only for themselves but for the greater good of helping those orphaned children in Kenya that need help the most.
The next morning, each member of Team Oasis lined up at the line and began our 26.2 mile-long journey. Along the way, it was so encouraging to see other non-running members of Oasis for Orphans cheering your name and holding up signs to inspire and motivate you when you felt as if you had nothing else left in the tank.
Crossing the line a bit later on in the day was such an indescribable feeling. Yes – I finally checked “running a marathon” off of my bucket list, but what was more incredible was running with Team Oasis. We all ran under a common goal to give orphaned children education, safety, fellowship, and a new life. Running for Team Oasis was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever been fortunate enough to do, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
You can run with Team Oasis in this year’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon! Limited spots remain.
