Yesterday was the last track meet of the season for the students at St. Mark’s grade school in Peoria where I help coach. In the course of several of my conversations with some of the athletes prior to their last event of the season I (attempted) to summon up within them the courage to go out and give their event their all–to leave everything at the finish line. Even if they were never to set foot on a track again, I told them that there is something truly self-illuminating about running, or endurance sports in general–they really can show you what you’re really made of. The decisions that they chose to make yesterday go beyond them having a good or bad performance at their meet–it begins to set the stage for the development of their character that affects everything they do.
I think that is why it is so fitting that Biking for Babies seeks to raise money through an endurance event such as this–because working to defend life is not a sprint in any sense (not to put down sprinting events 🙂 I’m sure some pro-life sprinter out there could come up with a good analogy!). Just like endurance sports it’s about standing up and showing what the pro-life community really made of day in and day out–whether that means defending life by being a great mother or defending life by working or volunteering at pregnancy resource centers.
In only 7 days, our B4B team will each attempt to cover over 1,100 miles, under their own power, riding over 140 miles a day for each day we’re on the bike. Today was my last big workout in preparation–putting in over 20 miles running this morning.
As has been said over and over, please be a part of our 9 day adventure!–say a prayer for those who have been hurt or will be hurt by abortion, “like” each of our posts and videos that we will be posting each day of the ride, join our facebook page, volunteer with a pro-life agency, or, if you happen to live near our route, contact me and we’d love to stop and say hello for a bit on our way.
The two other BIG ways to show your support:
1.) You can see now in the upper right hand part of this website, “Celebrate with us in Chicago on May 29th!” On Tuesday, May 29th, our team will be officially concluding the ride at BlueStar bistro & grill (1209 N. Noble St., Chicago) at 5p.m. Tickets are $15 each (which is a VERY good deal for this wonderful restaurant) and will include chicken, pasta, and salad. Now, we need to FILL this place, which means we need at least 80 folks to come out. Simply click the link provided and fill in the information and you can be a part of our finish. The evening will begin with the dinner at 5p.m., followed by a reception at 6, with pro-life speaker, Jason Jones, and conclude with mass at St. Stanislaus Kostka parish at 7p.m. (1351 W. Evergreen, Chicago).
2.) There will also be a small event in Champaign when we finish our ride the previous day, on Monday, May 28th. We will shoot for a 5p.m. arrival again and be celebrating Mass shortly thereafter with the FOCUS missionaries doing their summer training at St. John’s Newman Center of the University of Illinois’ campus (604 East Armory Avenue, Champaign, Illinois 61820). Beginning at 6:30p.m., in the Newman Center cafeteria, Greta Henry, director of Living Alternatives, along with a few special guests will be sharing their stories. No reservations necessary for that event.