I did well at first; I tried my best to keep up and ran as fast as I could. I did however fall behind. My company ran ahead of me, cheering for me the entire time, as I continued to run at my pace with the lieutenant. We ran and ran and ran, the lieutenant constantly giving me praise and encouraging words.
We ran half of the loop, the oval that circles the front of the campus, I smiled as big as I could; I had never done that before. The lieutenant also smiled and cheered for me as we continued to run, by this time we were catching up with the rest of the company. We ran three-fourths of the loop as we finally made it back to the company; still running a few feet behind everyone. One of my brother core saw me and cheered me on, if it wasn’t for him I really don’t think I could have made it as far as I did.
We continued to run as we made it to the point where we started, one full loop. And guess what? I hadn’t stopped running! I had run the entire time. I saw the end of the cafeteria, as I felt myself starting to get tired, every muscle in my body was screaming stop. And just then the lieutenant spoke: ‘Don’t listen to Satan. He’s going to try and make you stop. Make him stop, stomp him out.’ She looked at me with a smile as I nodded and we sprinted to the finish/starting point.
As we passed the point I smiled and praised God, I had been praying for strength the entire time we were running. I honestly couldn’t believe I had made it that far. As I slowed down from the sprint, I saw that the company was still running; loop number two! I groaned as I watched the company make the slight turn, the lieutenant shook her head and pushed me to go further. ‘You can do this! Look at you! You just ran one ENTIRE loop! We can do another. Come on! I have faith in you.’ I groaned again and grind my teeth as we continued to run.
We ran and ran and ran some more, we made it to the guard booth (half way) as I saw the company again; we were picking up speed on them once more. ‘Look at that! You ran one and half loops! And we’re catching up with the company!’ the lieutenant spoke happily as we ran up the slight incline of the road. Honestly, I could care less if we had run one and half loops or that we were catching up with the company; I wanted to stop. I wanted to walk, I wanted to catch my breath, I wanted to give into my flesh; as soon as that thought entered my mind I knew I couldn’t do this on my own. I started to pray once more and quoted Philippians 4:13; we caught up slightly with the company once more as the same brother core brother saw me and cheered me on once more.
We ran and ran and ran as the cafeteria came into view once more; I smiled as I pushed myself harder and harder. My legs were sore, my arms hurting and my chest ached as again the thought of stopping entered my mind: ‘You did so well, you fought hard; you can walk the rest, you did your best.’ I shook my head as the lieutenant’s words came back to me: ‘Stomp him OUT!’ I puffed harder as I ran a little quicker. Loop number two – complete!
By this time the company had completely left us in the dust; they were on their third loop and were racing. As we made it to the finish/starting point I was told to run in place as the lieutenant went to speak with the major, he told us to run the tear drop – the small loop in the big loop, about one-fourth of the full loop size. I nodded as I slowly picked up my pace once more and continued to run. I was not going to give up. I was not going to give in! I wasn’t running for me any more, I wasn’t running for the lieutenant, I wasn’t running for the major – I was running for God, and I knew he was proud of me.
We made it back to the finish/starting point, two and one-third loops – yay! The lieutenant and I were called over to the major and captain, as we made our way to them I continued to jog in place. The major then spoke: ‘Alright Stella, good job. You can stop running now… Stella stop running.’ I shook my head and said: ‘No sir.’ He looked at me and nodded: ‘Alright then. Run over to the middle of the road and when your company comes in, line them into platoons and gather them together.’ I nodded as I ran to the middle of the road and jogged in place.
I watched as my company started to come up the slight incline of the road, I cheered them on as they made it towards me. They all made their way to the finish/starting point as I directed them into platoons - and told them to continue running in place.
We waited as all the platoons came, still running, once all the platoons came in and the prize of the race was given out (five minute break in ESOAL) the major started to run in place himself and spoke: ‘Alright, we’re going to run one more tear drop. Stella, lead the company. You can not pass Stella, she’s setting the pace.’ I looked at him out of the corner of my eye: ‘Are you serious?’ I thought as he turned around and started to run. I took a deep breath and followed after him.
We ran a few steps as I ran behind the major and captain; they were a good three maybe four feet ahead of me. We ran about one-third the tear drop as I started to think: ‘Why do we want to finish the way we started? We’re running for God, not ourselves; let’s give him what he deserves.’ I took as deep of a breath as I could as I pumped my arms harder and quickened my pace. I sprinted down half the tear drop as the major turned his head slightly to find me in the middle of both him and the captain; he smiled: ‘Good job Stella.’ He and the captain quickened their pace as I picked up mine to match theirs.
We ran side by side as I could hear the company behind me struggling to keep up. We ran about three-fourths of the tear drop as my chest started to feel like it was on fire, I would not stop or slow down – this wasn’t for me, this was for God. We made it to finish finisihing point as we all slowed down and took deep breaths. For the first time since we started running, I had stopped. I had run the entire time, I didn’t stop once. I smiled and thanked God; I truly couldn’t have done it on my own.
We walked down the decline of the walk way to the anvil as we started to stretch. My platoon came around me as my ACA looked at me and beamed: ‘Where did that sprint come from? We couldn’t keep up with you!’ She smiled as she hugged me.
-Philippians 4:13
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