OSWEGO, Ill.—Scott Poling, pastor of Harvest New Beginnings, ran a 101-mile race Nov. 1 in Missouri. The Ozark Trail Endurance Run winds through the Mark Twain National Forest in south central Missouri.
Conditions were brutal, he says. “Subfreezing temps had water bottles freezing and runners shivering in the deep, dark woods at night. Water crossings had shoes iced over with cold feet. About 15,000 feet of elevation pounded our legs. Loose rocks covered by leaves took out many with sprained ankles and busted up knees.” But the experience was incredible, he says, testing the mind, body, and spirit.
Poling started the race with his friend Mike Cordum, but Mike had to drop out at mile 78. Poling finished in 28 hours, 34 minutes, taking 19th place out of the 36 who finished (89 people had signed up for the race). “There is no way I could have finished but by the grace of God,” he says. “Truly ‘they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint’” (Isaiah 40:31).
Poling says he loved spending time with his Heavenly Father out on the trail, worshiping Him and praying as stars came out at night. Poling learned a lot of lessons too, he told Harvest’s congregation in his sermon Sunday, Nov. 9.
“How should we run the race of life?” he asked. First, he says, we must find our strength in God. We can rely on the one Who never tires, knows the answers, and readily empowers. Second, we should put it in perspective. God is not impressed with horsepower or leg power; He favors those who fear Him and have faith in Him.
Poling hasn’t always been a runner. He began running 12 years ago when he used a marathon as a sermon illustration for the Christian life. “On a whim, I challenged anybody in the church that would want to train with me and run the Chicago Marathon,” he says. “About four or five guys said they would do it, and came up after the service. We trained and ran that first marathon together and I’ve been running one or two marathons a year since then.”
About 50 men are now part of a group of runners called The Running Guys that began at Harvest. Fifteen to 20 of those men are members of the church. The group goes on long runs together once a week, with Poling starting off with prayer. The time together is both physically and spiritually encouraging, he says. A women’s running group began in April.
For Poling, running isn’t just physical; it’s also spiritual. He enjoys spending time with the Lord in His creation and will stop to talk with people along the way. For example, in April, he paused in one of his runs along a trail to share Christ with two people he encountered and invited them to his church’s Easter service.
To run an ultramarathon, he says, “you have to be a certain type of crazy.” But he calls the Endurance Run an exhilarating adventure with his Heavenly Father.
