Pro-life activism has become even more diverse: these days, it includes running marathons.
LIFE Runners, a group which is part of the Christian faith-based community LIFE Group Devotions, began in 2008 when marathoners Pat Castle and Rick Reich decided to put together a team of runners to raise money for the pro-life cause. The team, which runs one marathon per year, has seen tremendous growth. In 2010, 17 runners participated in the Sioux Falls Marathon and raised over $7,000; for the coming 2011 Kansas City Marathon, 135 runners have already registered and hope to raise $25,000.
Noteworthy participants this year include Bishop Thomas Paprocki, head of diocese of Springfield, Illinois. Paprocki, who has run marathons all over the world, was personally invited to participate in the Kansas City Marathon by the LIFE Runners team.
Though training for the 26.2-mile distance involves countless exhausting—and often boring—long runs and workouts, LIFE Runners keep their goal in mind. Reich composed the “LIFE Runner’s Creed” to remind participants of their purpose:
“We run as a Prayer, that children in the womb may be protected, so that they may be born and welcomed into the Christian community by baptism.
We run to build Endurance, for the race is long and we must keep our eyes fixed on You Lord.
We run for Awareness, that the eyes of all people may be transformed and see every human life as a reflection of Your glory Lord.
We run for Charity, to provide support for mothers and fathers who are in agony because they are tempted to abort their child.
We run to End abortion, for Christ has destroyed the power of death, and therefore the power of abortion.”
Read more about Bishop Paprocki and LIFE Runners in LifeSiteNews.com’s article.
