Frozen Gizzards

Jacob and I registered last week for the 9th annual Freeze Your Gizzard 5k race up in Leesburg. The whole thing started at about 9am and I must say that it was rather chilly. It was probably in the high 30's or so, but we were ready. Outfitted with sweatshirts and warm tuques, we set out on the 3.2 mile jaunt.

As it turns out, though, we didn’t start when everyone else did. In fact, we gave them all at least a one minute head start. Not only did I have a time tag tied onto my left shoe, but I also had one of those key pocket things tied to the other one. in case you don’t know what that is, I’ve included a picture here. Mine didn’t happen to be this brand, but it was very similar.

And what a piece of junk! Without exaggeration, we hadn’t run more than 25 yards when I looked down and saw it flapping in the wind. Quickly I reached down and felt inside, but there was no key. Jacob and I stopped dead in our tracks thinking that we were going to have to search far and wide just to find the darned thing. We were about 40 minutes from home, Kelly was working in Fairfax and Hannah needed to be picked up directly after the race was over. We were in big time trouble.

But again, the tender mercies of the Lord are great. We walked back toward the starting line and within 30 seconds we saw it lying on the ground. Jacob said it best when he said, “It’s a good thing you saw that when you did, Dad. We could have seen that when we were halfway through the race and then what would we have done?” He was absolutely right. The Lord was very, very good to us. I am very grateful.

Jacob volunteered to carry the key and the pouch the rest of the way. If you look carefully at the picture of him you can see them both in his hands. That’s him at the finish line. Notice that I’m nowhere to be seen. That’s because he left me (with my approval) and finished 9:06 seconds ahead.

The course was tough and really tired me out, but honestly, it was an honor and privilege to run this with my son. I was so proud of him. The course made a very large loop, coming back onto itself at about the 2 mile mark. When I was at the halfway point I saw him running down the hill at that two mile marker. A very large smile crossed my face and it lifted me the rest of the way. Don’t get me wrong. I was TIRED, but knowing that Jacob was in such good health and that he could run me into the ground made me as proud as could be.