Cleanse the Temple, Again

Today when Christ and his disciples walked from Bethany to Jerusalem it was a much quieter walk. There must have still been many people who came out to see them but there weren't the crowds experienced the day before. This time however when they arrived at the top of the Mount of Olives they came across a fig tree that was completely leaved out. This was a bit unusual for this early in the year but Jesus and his disciples were quite excited because a fig tree bears fruit at the same time it's leaves come on. When they went to pick some fruit to eat however there wasn't a single fruit on the entire tree. When Jesus saw that the fig tree bore no fruit he said, "Let no fruit grow on this tree henceforth and forever". This must have seemed like a very strange thing for Jesus to say but Jesus offered no explanation and simply carried on towards Jerusalem.

Most people are well aware of how Jesus cleansed the Temple by driving the "money changers" from it but most are not aware that he did that again at the end of his ministry just before his crucifixion. This cleansing probably took place on this day, the Tuesday before he died. There is also a single line that mentions that Jesus would not allow anyone to "carry vessels" through the temple. What was probably happening is that people carrying freight and making other deliveries to various parts of Jerusalem were taking short cuts through the temple grounds. Apparently Jesus put a stop to this as well as driving the money changers from the Temple once again.

The commotion caused by Jesus throwing out the money changers apparently drew the attention of the Sanhedrin who immediately came out and demanded of Jesus by what authority he thought he could do such an act. Jesus, as he so often did, answered their question with a question of his own. He told them that he would answer their question if he answered a question of his. He asked them if John baptized with authority of God or with his own authority. The Sanhedrin knew right away that they had been trapped, if they said it was on Gods authority then Jesus would ask them why they didn't accept John as a prophet but if they said he acted on his own authority then the people would be angry because most of the people accepted John the baptist as a prophet. The Sanhedrin responded that they couldn't say who's authority John acted on so Jesus simply replied that he could answer either.

The people loved it. Most of them saw the Sanhedrin as a bunch of self righteous men who took advantage of their position and were far too removed from their lives. They loved to see them get embarrassed like this. Jesus then told a parable of a man who had two sons. He gave his son's a job to do and one of them refused to do it and went on his way. He later felt bad about what he'd done and went and did as his father had requested. The other son told his dad that he would do the job he'd been asked to do but then he left and didn't do it. Jesus then asked the Sanhedrin which of these sons did the will of their father. The answer was obvious but when they answered saying "the one who at first refused him"; Jesus looked them in the eye and told them that Harlots and Publicans would enter the kingdom of God before they did because the Publicans and Harlots believed John but they didn't.

Just in case they didn't see the comparison Jesus went on and told another parable about a man who built a large vineyard and hired people to run it for him while he went in a far away land. When harvest time came the man sent servants to collect the proceeds from those who were hired to run the vineyard. When the servants showed up for the money those who were in charge of the vineyard beat them and even killed some. When the servants didn't return the owner sent more servants but they too were beaten and killed. Finally the owner sent his own son saying to himself that surely those running his vineyard will have respect for his own son but when those in charge saw the owners son coming they killed him thinking that they would be able to keep all of the fruits of the vineyard.

Those who were loved Jesus and were with him couldn't have missed the fact that Jesus was referring to himself as the Son who was killed and it must have dismayed them to hear him once again talk about his own death like this. The Sanhedrin however didn't get it at first because when Jesus asked them what would happen to those in charge of the vineyard they replied that the Father would destroy them and put others in charge of his vineyard. Jesus only nodded and gave them a moment for it to sink in.

Later on this same day Jesus was confronted once again by some Pharisees who tried to trap him in his words. In response to this Jesus delivered what may have been his most forceful attack on the Pharisees yet calling them hypocrites. How they make themselves beautiful on the outside but are filthy on the inside. He compared them to a tomb that is painted to be beautiful and white on the outside but is filled with the bones of dead men. During his entire life Jesus had been very patient and loving towards the sinner but it appears that the one thing he can't stand is a hypocrite. Following such an excoriating attack it is almost no wonder that the Sanhedrin hated him so much that they actually wanted to kill him.

The Sanhedrin was furious but they saw how the multitude loved Jesus and they didn't dare do anything  while he was surrounded by so many who loved him. It was probably this day that they looked for someone who would be willing to betray Jesus and let them know when and where he could be taken without all of the crowds around to witness it.

Passover Begins

If a king in ancient Israel wanted to declare war on another city he would ride into that city mounted on a horse or in a chariot. If that King wanted to enter another city in peace he would announce his intention by riding into that city upon a donkey. Four hundred years before Christ, the prophet Zechariah prophesied "Rejoicing greatly , O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass." Jesus left the home of Mary and Martha on the first day of Passover to go into Jerusalem. Bethany is at the bottom of the Mount of Olives opposite from the side of the mountain that Jerusalem is on. This meant that in order to enter Jerusalem they had to climb to the top of the Mount of Olives and then go down the other side.

As Jesus and his disciples neared the top of the Mountain the road passed near by the town of Bethphage. As they came to the road that led to Bethphage Jesus stopped and asked his Apostles to go into the town and there they would find a donkey tied up and with it would be a colt that had never been ridden by man. They were to bring the colt to him. He told them if anyone asked they were to tell them that the "Master has need of it".

The Feast of Tabernacles is a time when the Jews would celebrate their acceptance of Jesus as their King. They did this by waving palm branches or branches with fruit on them and calling out the words "hallel" meaning "Praise" and "Yah" meaning "Jehovah". These two words came to be "Hallelujah" or "Praise to the Lord". When those with Jesus recognized the significance of the donkey they spontaneously lined the road to Jerusalem and waved palm branches calling out "Hosanna" meaning "save now" and "Hallelujah" meaning "praise to the Lord".

By this time with the many miracles Jesus had performed, not the least of which was the raising of Lazarus just a few days earlier, had spread throughout the land. He was famous. People had been watching for him and when they saw him coming they ran ahead to the let others know he was coming. The road was lined all the way into Jerusalem with people waving palm branches and throwing their cloaks and robes on the pathway before him. It must have been a very exciting time.

As they reached the summit of the mountain and began to descend into the Kidron valley the view of the Temple Mount must have been spectacular. The shouts of Hosanna and Hallelujah would have become even louder. Suddenly Jesus came to a halt and as he looked over the temple and the city of Jerusalem a sadness came over his face and tears to his eyes. His disciples must have wondered how things could go from jubilation and excitement to such sadness so quickly. Finally Jesus spoke and paraphrasing he said, "Oh Jerusalem, if only you knew what lay ahead for you, but you are blind and can not see it. The day will come when your enemies will surround you on all sides and destroy you so completely that not one stone will be left upon another." Finally he moved on towards the city and entered it through the Golden gate as a King.

The Sanhedrin

After Jesus brought Lazarus back to life the Sanhedrin was in an uproar. The Sanhedrin was a ruling body that consisted of members from the Pharisees, Saducees and other highly ranked members of Jewish society. When they saw the large number of people who followed Jesus (especially after Lazarus was raised from the dead) they became very concerned that they would lose their power but they were also concerned that the Romans would become concerned that so many Jews were following what they (the Sanhedrin) thought to be a rebel. It was about this time, a week before Passover, that the Sanhedrin decided that they would have to kill Jesus.

While the scriptures aren't clear, it was also about this time that Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha came to Jesus to anoint his feet with a very expensive ointment that she carried in an alabaster box. It must have been a very solemn moment as she did this but as she finished Judas became angry and chastised Mary for wasting such an expensive ointment when she could have sold it for a large sum of money and given it to the poor. Jesus came to her defense and told Judas that it was a good thing she had done. He told him that the poor would always be among us but what Mary had done would always be spoken of as a memorial to her. Jesus then alluded once again to his death saying that Mary had come to prepare his body early for it's burial.

It seems clear that those who were close to Jesus had to have known what was coming.

Ragnar Relay

Wow, I can scarcely even describe how much fun I've had in the last two days. Was it really two days? It has kind of blurred into a single event where time didn't exist except when we tried to estimate when our runner would arrive. We might then talk about how someone started their run at 1:00 in the morning but oddly I don't think any of us actually thought about how that was in the middle of the night. It was just a starting time so we knew when that runner should be arriving. Other than that I was scarcely aware of the time. 


I was going to write this post and upload it Saturday night but I sat down to work on the pictures and my mind was mush. No matter how I tried I just couldn't concentrate. I apologize but I had to get some sleep. 


So let me go back to the beginning. While the composition of the team changed many times over the last few months we finally ended up with the following people.

Van 1 (left to right)

Joey Moore, Tricia Sutherland, Maricela Knapp, Itzel Mostert, Kim Garcia, and myself. 

Van 2 (left to right)
Brent Haws, Chelsea Romney, Robin Daynes, Alan Bird (the creator of it all), Scott Spurgiesz, Chris Bird.  


So that was our team. We'd had a couple of training runs together at Miramar Lake but I always had conflicts so while some of us have worked together I hadn't even met some of these people. I now am best friends with all of those who were in Van 1. Of course I still like the guys in van 2 but I didn't get to know them quite like I did Van 1. 

The Team Meal Thursday Evening

As you may have read earlier we had the big team meal on Thursday night. It seemed really weird to me that I was at a team meal carbo-loading on pasta. That is something that my kids have done for years but it was definitely a first for me. Being Van 1 we started the race off. Tricia drove and since her in-laws live in Orange County she really wanted to head up the night before so we wouldn't have to get up so early. Unfortunately the logistics were too difficult and we finally decided to go up early in the morning. I'm glad I got that last night in my own bed though even if it did mean that I had to get up at 5:30 on Friday. 

When we pulled into the parking lot at Huntington Beach I thought we'd arrived on a different world. At least half of the teams dressed in costumes and their teams had themes. One of my favorites was a team of american Indians. The guys all wore breach clothes and the squaws had cool looking indian dresses. They also had the vans all decorated. Even though we cheaped out on our vans I thought we looked pretty good. The name of our team was, "A dozen donuts to go".  

Maricella started out for our team and covered leg 1. About half of her run was along the beach and it was a beautiful run. She then turned north on the river bank and headed inland. When I say river bank it was a huge concrete channel about a hundred yards wide and had a trickle of water in the bottom that was maybe a foot wide. 
We drove down a couple of miles and cheered her on and then we drove another couple of miles where we were going to cheer her on again but then we realized that she was running so fast that if we didn't get going she might just get in before we did. Can you imagine how it would feel to complete your five mile run and there is no one there to greet you? That would be sad so we hustled on to the first exchange point where Maricela slapped the little bracelet thing onto Itzel and off she went to continue the run along the river bank.


The road was too far away from the river for us to cheer Itzel on so we headed up to Centennial Regional Park where it was my turn. I have no idea why but I was very nervous. I didn't need to be though, Itzel ran in, slapped the bracelet onto me and I was off. 
The adrenaline was flowing and I felt wonderful. The sun was bright, the air was calm and the view was actually pretty good if you don't mind a lot of concrete. After a few minutes I found myself getting a little winded. I couldn't figure it out though because I was way past that point in my practice runs. In fact, I rarely got winded in my practice runs and they were a lot more than the mile or so I'd been running. I pulled out my little phone to check out my status and saw that my pace was an 8 minute mile. That explained it all. I've never done an 8 minute mile so I slowed the pace a little and everything was great again. 

5.4 miles in 59 minutes

As the excitement faded and my mind started wandering I remembered that Ben was supposed to be running with me. How could I have forgotten? We'd talked about it lots and he was afraid he might not get the time off work but he was going to check and I'd never followed up. I then pulled out my phone and called him. It's real tough talking on a phone while you're running a race.  He was a little surprised to hear where I was and he felt bad because he thought I was running next week. He checked out where I was on his computer and asked me to call him when I got to the golf course. 


Eventually I came to a water station. I was feeling good and I really didn't want to stop so I blew on by which was a big mistake. At somewhere around the three mile mark the started feeling the heat. I came to the golf course and called Ben again and him and Sharley walked on down the Angels stadium parking lot where we where the exchange was. At one point I run under one of the freeways and the instant coolness was a shock to my system and I started feeling a bit faint. I started worrying because I really didn't want to get sick but I was still OK and kept running. Ben called me worried about the time. This was a brand new job for him and he couldn't be late. I told him where I was and even though we could tell I was going to be very close he finally had to leave but Sharley stayed to cheer me on. Besides, I think we spent enough time on the phone that I can say that Ben ran with me. 

Once I saw the big "A" for the stadium I got my second wind and on I went. I missed Ben by just minutes but there was Sharley and my team mates. Sharley gave me a big hug and one of my team mates later commented how she must be a cool daughter in law to hug me when I was all sweaty like that. I agree - thanks for being there Sharley. My time for the race was 5.4 miles in under an hour for a ten minute mile. Definitely a personal best for that long of a run. 

Kim Garcia just got the Bracelet from Joey
and is about to complete Van #1's first turn.

So I slapped the bracelet on Tricia and off she went. As we continued on inland the temperature started rising. According to the van it was about 85° during my run and by the time our van handed the bracelet on to Van 2 the temperature was in the 90's. We all did well but I became very thankful for the run I had. I think someone thought they were doing Joey a favor when they gave him some shorter runs but I don't think they realized how nasty some of the hills were he had to climb. To make it worse the temperature had climbed by the time his turn came. He was runner #5. He did a great job and while I felt sorry for him I kept saying to myself, "better him than me". He did say that he had a great view from the top of the mountain. 

Our first major exchange. Unfortunately Alan
isn't in the picture because he's off running.

When Kim brought in the final run for Van 1's first round it was pretty much unanimous to go back to Sutherland's for a shower. It is rather amazing what a difference a shower, a subway sandwich and a short nap makes. We knew that traffic would be nasty on a late Friday afternoon in LA so we decided to head for exchange #12 early. It's a good thing too. I'm sure it took us two hours to go ten miles. 

Our second major exchange.
This time Itzel is off running.

When Van 2 hands the bracelet off to Van 1 that means that both vans have to be at the exchange. With 470 teams entered in this race and each team has two vans that means there are as many as 940 vans and over 5,000 people in one place at one time. Of course not everyone gets there at the same time but with the slow runners starting early and the fast runners starting later, as the race goes on the fast runners start to catch up to the slow runners and the major exchanges get very congested. It was a zoo. To make it worse as Maricela started out her second run of the race and we finally got out of the Lake Elsinor Campground (which was a very nice campground by the way) we promptly hit a major traffic jam. We sat there for a very long time and were starting to get quite worried about not being at the exchange in time. Since we were out in the boonies we wondered what the traffic jam was all about but when we finally got up to the front of the line we figured out it was a sobriety check point. I'm not sure if they were trying to snag careless Ragnar racers or if it was just very bad timing. Since they just waved us through I think it may have been just bad timing. In any case we barely made it in time for Itzel to take over. 


Itzel was amazing. She had a run that was nearly ten miles long and it went through some very rough horse trails and up some very long hills. I am so excited to do the Ragnar again but my only fear is that I will end up with a ten mile run. I'm not up to that but by next year who knows. We stopped and cheered Itzel on at the bottom of a long nasty hill and by the time we got in the van and caught up to her she'd passed at least a dozen people. I think she loves to run and apparently she's got a bit of a competitive streak in her too. 

2.7 miles in 26 minutes

In spite of how well I ran my first leg I was still very nervous about my second leg. It was a short one but still, would I be all tired out from the first leg? Once again I took off in the dark and it felt great. In this race if you pass another runner they call that a "kill". In my first turn I only had one kill and I can't be too proud of that because it was just a short little fat girl. In this leg there were two runner who were just ahead of me. I promptly got my second kill of the race when I past another girl but this one was young and quite fit looking. I'm proud of that kill even if it was a girl. The other runner however was a buff young man and I saw right away that his pace was just a little faster than I would normally run. Passing him up was out of the question but I challenged myself to see if I could stay with him. In staying with this guy I picked up four more kills in just 2.7 miles and I clocked in at right close to a 9 minute mile. That was a new all time best for me. This run went right through downtown Murietta and while it was nearly midnight it was still quite active. It felt cool to run though crowds of people and with the nearly full moon it had a real cool feel to it. I loved it and I felt good when it was all over. I've been told my whole life that you need to stretch before and after a work out and frankly I've always thought it was bogus. I've never noticed how it has helped and I just never did it. Lately I've been stretching a bit before my runs because when I got that planters fasciitis it seemed to help but I never stretched after. Well I guess this run was a bit more aggressive than I've ever done before. Normally we give the runner a chance to cool off before heading out but I felt good so I just loaded everyone up and headed out. No sooner was I out of the driveway when my legs started cramping up. I suspect that is what they're trying to prevent when the suggest you stretch after a work out. I made it to the next exchange point where I promptly stretched out my sore muscles and things felt good again. 


Running in the dark was tricky however. With the headlight on your forehead you don't get any shadows because the light is so close to your eyes. With no shadows your depth perception is kind of messed up and you've got to be very careful with rocks, curbs and pot holes. On my run there were a lot of driveways and so the side walk kept sloping and if I didn't realize it I would jar my back because the sidewalk was lower than I expected it to be. I finally just gave up and ran on the road. That was risking a violation but it was midnight and I decided to take a chance.


Tricia followed me and she actually missed a curb and fell down. Head lights, tailights (we had to wear blinking lights on our backs) and ipods went flying everywhere. Some good Samaritons stopped and helped her out and luckily there was no permanent damage done to her or her equipment. She then thanked her helpers and left them in her dust. She said she was fine but I suspect she's sporting a bruise today. 

Joey on leg 29 ended up running across a golf course. Out on the fareway, away from all the streets there were absolutely no lights so he turned off his headlight to see what it was like. He said it was absolutely beautiful with the almost full moon lighting up the rolling hills and then there was a long string stretched out in a line that went up another very steep mountain side. The hill was so steep that he almost had to go on all fours to get up it. 


Kim then brought us into the Fallbrook into another major exchange that was probably the worst experience of the whole race. I would like to be charitable and chalk it up to growing pains. This is there third race in Southern California and I understand that it has grown so fast that it is now their largest race even larger than the Wasatch Front in Utah where their very first race was. Growing pains or not these guys need to do a lot of work on getting into and out of the major exchanges. We waited in line for a good twenty minutes with out moving at all. We finally gave up and parked on the street somewhere and walked in. 

Robin Daynes ready for her night time run.

By this time it was somewhere around 2:00AM and we had a few hours to kill before our turn at 6:00AM. We drove to Encinitas at the headquarters for Taylor Made and half of us slept out on the golf course and the other half slept in the car. It got very cold and even though I was comfortable in my blanket, every time I rolled over (which wasn't too often) I exposed some part of my body and froze it. My alarm went off at 5:00 and it was cold. Keeping my blanket wrapped around me I made my way back to the van and limped the whole way. My feet were killing me. I got a little bit scared wondering how on earth I was ever going to run. Luckily as I walked it off the pains worked their way out and I was fine. 


Maricela lead off our first morning run. It was still early enough that she had to wear her night time gear. A head light, tail light and reflective vest was required gear between 6:45 pm and 6:45 am. Her husband Chris was there to meet her as she came in. She never bragged about it but I'm quite sure she always had lots of kills when she ran. 


My last leg was my favorite. I loved them all but this one ran along the coast not 20 feet from the surf. How can you complain about that? I started inland a couple of miles and wandered over to Encinitas. We ran right down main street and at 9:00 in the morning all of the restaurants had their tables set up on the sidewalk and for some reason I got real pleasure out of running right through the middle of all those tables. 

5.7 miles in 63 minutes

Once we were out of the down town area I came out onto the beach. I've said before that I think running is as much a mental exercise as it is physical one. My brain was telling me that I'd already run over eight miles in the last twenty four hours and since I've never done that before I should be tired so I should stop and walk. Well with that surf not twenty feet away from me I think I could have ran forever. Besides, the run was a gentle down hill and how could I ever walk on a down hill run? I finally told myself that perhaps I'd stop and walk going up the hill on the other side. Coming towards me were hundreds of walkers with identical T shirts on. They were with some team in training for leukemia I think. One of them was going the same direction as I was and when I passed her she started running with me. She asked what the Ragnar Relay was and I told her and then she asked how far we were running. When I told her 200 miles her jaw dropped. I love telling people I was going to run a 200 mile race. Well we talked all the way up the hill and when I'm running with a young girl how could I possibly stop and walk? I way too proud to do something like that. Well before I knew it I turned at the cross walk and there was my beautiful wife taking my picture. How fun was that? I really wanted to stop and give her a hug right then and there but she was the volunteer that is supposed to call my number (#199 by the way) into the finish line so that they can get my team mate ready. 

Me slapping the little bracelet onto Tricia

I decided to run on by my wife and slap the bracelet on Tricia and go back to see my wife. After a sweaty hug and a kiss we were on our way and I was done running for the day. As it turned out, the leg that I was most worried about was my favorite one. 5.7 miles in one hour exactly. The best part was that I felt great. I also picked up at least six more kills on that run. I won't mention how many people are counting me as one of their kills but sadly one of them looked like he was ten years old and another one was an eighty year old woman. If I keep this up maybe I can be like her. 


Poor Tricia though. The directions told the vans to go a different route to the next exchange point but we wanted to follow Tricia and cheer her on so we risked another violation and off we went. We yelled as we drove by but then on our way we saw that she had to go up a hill that was probably two miles long and it was quite steep. 

Cheering Tricia on after a very long ugly hill

To make matter worse she had no water station and I think it was over 6 miles. I'm not sure what they were thinking. We picked a spot near the top and when she came around the corner we were there to welcome her. We also had water for her. Her husband Mark and their youngest son also joined up with us. As we were waiting for her several other runner came by and some of them were not using kind words. We tried to cheer them all up but I think many of them were beyond that. One guy about ripped a water bottle out of Kim's hand. I think he needed it more than we did. 

Joey Moore after cooling off in the ocean

Joey got a break on his last run which did have some up hill but a lot more down hill. His wife Tiffany and kids came to meet him at the end of his run which was right at Torrey Pines beach. Joey slapped the bracelet onto Kim and then ran right on past her to the water. he didn't quite dive in but I could tell he really wanted to. He did splash water all over himself. 


Kim then completed the last run for our team and ran up the Torrey Pines hill. That was a nasty climb and was we drove by her cheering her on she was doing great. As we drove up the hill there was one girl who looked like she was going to need the ambulance. People were helping her but she was in pretty bad shape. 

Our final major exchange and the end of Van #1's
running. Once again Alan isn't in the picture
because he's out on a ten mile run.

This major exchange point was actually pretty good. It was at the San Diego glider port on cliffs that over look the ocean. You can ask Kim and she will assure those are some very high cliffs. After all she literally ran from the sea to the top of the cliffs. 

Alan handing off to Scott

Our van was now done so we went for a Jamba Juice and some Mexican food and then we got a call from Alan. Alan was the first runner for Van 2. He'd apparently arrived at exchange point 31 but nobody was there to meet him. That is kind of the worst nightmare for a Ragnar runner. He'd tried to call some of his team mates but he either didn't have their numbers or they weren't answering him. I called Robin and apparently they were waiting for him at exchange 32. It is kind of confusing because if someone is running leg 31 does that mean he starts at 30 and goes to 31 or does he start at 31 and goes to 32? Well Van 2 was at 32 and Alan was at 31 so we lost a half hour there but the only one who was upset was Scott who was navigating. I was navigating for our van and that was my worst fear but I always got us to where we needed to be when we needed to be there so no one fired me. They only threatened to once or twice. 

Scott Spurgiesz

Now that we were free we decided to follow van 2 and cheer then on where we could. Scott was the runner to follow Alan so he was so upset that he was determined to make up the time he'd lost. He might have just done it too except that he missed a sign and went a mile in the wrong direction. Two Ragnar people found him and told him that he needed to go back. Scott just hoped onto the running board of their golf cart and told (not asked) them to take him back. They reminded him that doing that would be a violation. Scott wouldn't get off and they didn't push it. We're allowed three minor violations and I think that would be a good use for one of them. I guess they felt sorry for him because we didn't get any texts. 

Robyn Daynes finally going down hill
after a very long climb.

Robin then took her turn which ended up being well over eight miles with a nasty hill in the middle of it. She had some nice scenery along the coast running past the Star of India and ending up in Sea Port Village. I don't know now those people do it. Brent then ran under the Coronado Island Bridge. I was really hoping we'd get to run over it but nope, we had to go the long way around the south end of the bay. We cheered Chelsy out fo the exchange and then decided to head to the finish line. Lisa and Connie had showed up at the finish line by 4:00 because that was when we were scheduled to arrive but with the heat and the hills we were now more than two hours behind schedule. 


At the finish line we saw the Biggest Loser Blue Team come in but I think we were able to beat the Black team. Finally Chris appeared and we gathered as a team about a hundred yards from the finish line and ran in together. What a cool feeling. By this time we were like family and people that I scarecel knew before were now like brothers and sisters. What a fun time. 

Brent Haws running under the Coronado Bridge

My biggest fear now is that I'll stop running. My goal is to keep running. I've got to be ready for next year so I plan to run at least ten miles a week.


Finally I want to take at least one line to thank Lisa. She's been very supportive of this thing by encouraging me to train, volunteering her Saturday and especially for being at the finish line to take pictures. Thank you dear.


What a great weekend. Let's do it again!!!

Chelsea Romney just starting her last run.

Here we are at the finish line 200 miles in 34 hours. 

Besides some wonderful memories, after 200 miles of blood, sweat
and tears, this is what I got to show for all my work. It's getting
a prominent spot in my house.

Ragnar here I come!!

The day is drawing nigh and I'm getting very excited but also a little bit nervous. Starting at 9:15 on Friday morning in Huntington Beach we are embarking on our 200 mile relay race. I am the third runner and it is anticipated that I will start my first turn at 10:45 that morning. Ben has to work that morning but if he can get time off he is going to come and run that leg with me. The course goes within a half block of his apartment.


Just in case anyone is interested in how I'm doing on Friday and Saturday, Alan Bird has created a  Facebook page for our team. In theory we can upload pictures and video clips from our race while we're on the road. Unfortunately I've never taken the opportunity to learn anything about Facebook so I don't know if I will be uploading anything. I will have plenty of time to figure it out so maybe I will. In case you're interested the Facebook page is here. 


My second leg is expected to start at 9:10 Friday night and I will be running through Murietta. 


My third and last leg is expected to start at 6:52 Saturday morning and it is my longest and hardest run. Since Lisa is volunteering at that exchange point I have something to look forward to and I'm hoping for a little extra energy. Kind of like running towards home I guess. 


Well wish me luck. 


Yikes...

Lazarus is Raised from the Dead

Bethany was a small town on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives. It is only two miles from Bethany to the Temple Mount but it is a steep climb from Bethany to the top of the mount of Olives and then an even steeper drop down into the Kidron Valley and then another steep climb up to the Golden Gate leading into the temple complex. It took two days for Jesus to get to Bethany from Jericho so apparently he wasn't in too much of a hurry. Large crowds surrounded Jesus every where he went so it is almost certain that as he entered into the town of Bethany he was greeted by a lot of people. Like any small town, word traveled fast that Jesus was in town and when Martha heard this she came to meet him on the road into Bethany and was obviously very distraught. She pointed out that if he had been there then Lazarus would not have died. She still showed faith however when she mentioned that she knew that God would still grant Jesus anything that he asked. He told Martha that her brother would live again but Martha assumed he spoke of the resurrection. He then told her to go get Mary.


When Martha returned with Mary she ran to the Savior and fell to her knees and repeated the exact same words as her sister saying, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus saw her there sobbing and was filled with compassion and weeping himself  he asked her, "Where have you laid him?"


A crowd of several hundred people followed Mary and Martha to the tomb where Lazarus had been laid. The funeral preparations had all been completed four days earlier so Lazarus laid in the tomb completly wrapped in linen clothes much like an Egyptian mummy. 

The tomb was sealed with a large stone that could be rolled away and as they arrived at the tomb Jesus asked Martha to have them remove the stone. She was shocked and responded that he had been dead for four days. Jesus said nothing so she then added that by this time he would stink. He then went to the two women and said, "Did I not say unto you that if you would believe, you should see the glory of God?"


The stone was rolled away and Jesus went to the entrance to the tomb and lifting his face to Heaven said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me, I know that thou hearest me always . But I say this because of the people who stand by here. I say it that they may believe that thou has sent me."


He then said, "Lazarus! Come forth!"


I imagine it was a few moments before Lazarus, still wrapped tightly in the white linen burial cloths made it to the door of the tomb. Imagine the reaction that must have been made by the crowd gathered to witness this wonderful miracle. 


Jesus finally commanded those with him to "Loose him and let him go."

Off to Jerusalem

I can only imagine what was going through everyones minds as Jesus stayed in Jericho for another two days. Since Jesus had said that Lazarus' illness was "not unto death" they probably told themselves that he would be OK otherwise why wouldn't Jesus have headed out right away? Finally, on this day, Jesus suggested to his party that they go to Jerusalem. His disciples were at first alarmed that he was going to Jerusalem because the last time they were there the Sanhedrin had tried to kill him but Jesus calmly rebuked them and told them that his friend Lazarus slept and that he needed to go wake him. He then declared that Lazarus was dead. Can you imagine the shock of those who were with Jesus? They all knew how close he was to this family. Every time they went to Jerusalem they always stayed in this home and now Jesus had sat around Jericho for two whole days knowing the whole time that Lazarus was dying. Even though Jesus had declared that he went to "wake" his friend the concept of actually raising some one from the dead was so unbelievable that they couldn't have imagined that it was possible in spite of what he said.

Really Good Jerky

Let me start by wishing Sharley a big Happy Birthday. I hope you had a wonderful day and that Ben did something special for you today. 


Next I'd like to tell you what a wonderful day we've had today. Pat and Gary Norton are two very good friends of ours and Pat is also a second cousin of Lisa's on the Kesler side. Pat and Gary have been serving a mission in Arizona for the last eighteen months and are going to heading home next week. We decided that we'd really like to see them and that Arizona is a lot closer than Canada so since today was their preparation day we loaded up the van yesterday afternoon and headed east. The drive through the desert was actually a very beautiful drive and since it is still only April it wasn't too hot yet. We got to Quartzite Arizona in time for their going away party for Pat and Gary. Let me tell you about the Quartzite branch. In fact let me tell you about Quartzite. 

When we got to the party Sarah was the youngest person there. The next youngest person to Sarah was Lisa and I. After Lisa and I the next youngest people were Pat and Gary. During the winter the Quartzite branch has over 800 people but during the summer the branch population drops to just a few people. This town has very few buildings but thousands of trailers. Sure there are many trailer parks but that doesn't stop these people. They will tow their trailer out into the desert and just park it there. There are wide open areas of desert with hundreds of trailers parked out there and every day a truck comes by and every day and truck comes by and fills up their water tank and empties there sewer tanks. It is rather amazing. Of course those old geezers just loved Sarah and she was quite popular with the old men. They had some very good food at this pot luck though so I need to run extra miles now. 


After the party we headed up to Parker Arizona. I've never heard of Parker but as it turns out it is a very special place for everyone in San Diego. They have a dam here called the Parker Dam and most of San Diego's drinking water comes from this dam. I'll tell you more about the dam later. We got to Pat and Gary's apartment in the evening (those old geezers don't shut down their parties pretty early) and we visited until about 9:00 just catching up on each others lives and hearing about their mission. It was fun and I didn't want to leave but they get up early and I'd had a long day. 


We hit their apartment early the next morning for breakfast and helped them clean out all of their food so they don't have to pack so much home with them. The pancakes and eggs were very good. Pat had an appointment she had to go to so Gary gave us a tour of their area. Their area is huge and from the south end to the north end is over 50 miles. He was telling us that they have to fill their car with gas about every other day. Crazy. The only good thing is that their gas is $3.62 a gallon but across the river (that would be in California). The gas is well over $4.00. I paid $4.05 in San Diego. 


The Colorado river is nothing like I imagined it. It is a beautiful blue color and for some reason I always pictured it as a slimy green brown color. It also flows very fast. We drove along the river for some time and saw some amazing huge houses along the water. It looked very appealing but I have to remind myself that in the summer the temperatures out here can top 120 degrees. I didn't get any good pictures of the million dollar houses but here are some pictures of other houses built along the banks of the Colorado river.


And then there is the Parker dam. This is the tallest dam in the world. You'd never know it by looking at it but what you don't realize is than less than a third of the dam is above water. Most of it goes below water and into the ground. This is the dam that diverts most of the irrigation water for the the desert and it also sends water to LA and San Diego. It is also the dam that forms Lake Havasu. I never knew any of that. 


Sarah was begging to go swimming in the river from the moment we saw it but we managed to keep her out. We finally caved in and stopped where she could "touch" the water. We more than let her just "touch" it. We actually let her immerse her feet in it. She is a funny girl. 

Starting about twenty miles out of Parker we started seeing billboards advertising "Really Good Jerky". I guess I was just in the mood for some really good jerky so I just had to stop. When I saw that a package was $8.00 I said to myself that it'd better be really good. Sadly it wasn't even as good as the stuff you can buy in the grocery store. If you happen to see this place, don't bother. What was really good though was the olives. The little store had a shelf full of olives with all kinds of things stuffed in them. They all looked very appetizing to me and I finally bought some that were stuffed with Feta cheese. They smell very strong and taste absolutely wonderful. I opened them as soon as we got home and now the bottle is pretty much gone. I sure hope olives aren't fattening. I'd better go check. 


So around 4:00 we decided to head home for San Diego. It was pretty much an uneventful drive home until we hit the 215 at which point is poured on us. I haven't seen rain that hard in San Diego in a very long time. 


So it was a great day. Sharley turned 23, we got to see Pat and Gary, Sarah got to "touch" the Colorado River, I ate some "really good" Olives and I learned where our water comes from. 

--------------------trivia--------------------

Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. 

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