The Real Race Begins – My “Badwater”

Dear readers,

It is with shock, honor, love and faith that I share with you a new and unexpected twist in my running travails. On the afternoon of November 29, 2016, while riding my Honda Forza “scooter/motorcycle” – I experienced a seizure, was graciously able to pull off the side of the road, and hours later with the help and love of my ER Doctor wife Jana I was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

I had brain surgery to resect 98% of the tumor last week – 12/14/2016 – and now we await, at this very hour, the pathology of the tumor — assuming unfortunately, according to my neuro-surgeon’s first inclinations, that it is a grade 3 or 4 glioma… Indeed, we should know something of the prognosis in a few hours… I will use this new page to document and share my story, my family’s story, as it unfolds in God’s perfect timing and way. I am certain that The LORD — who is good every hour — will use this challenge in a way that brings Him glory. And this is ALL that I see to be my humble and honorable task – to love Him more and share Him more in this most important race of all – what I am coming to refer to as my personal “Badwater Ultra-Marathon.”

For those of you not in the know, “Badwater” is like Mt. Everest to ultra-marathoners. It is a 135-mile race from Badwater, the bottom of Death Valley, CA, to the shoulders of Mt. Whitney at 8,000 feet above sea level. It has been my dream and vision to one day eclipse that race. Now, I see that God has called me and my family to a different and much more meaningful pursuit: that of Glorifying Him through the long struggle – alongside of brothers and sisters who also find themselves in the fight – of a war against brain cancer. I feel confident that the Lord has uniquely prepared me and my family for this challenging feat, and I will give every fiber of my being to win for Him and Him alone.

To each of you who follows and joins in this journey, thank you in advance for partnering with me and my family spiritually — that we may together lift up Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us. Best, Patrick