Running with Soldiers!

I got quite a surprise when I was out on my prayer/run this morning.  I had decided to do an 8-mile run today, as I've been increasing my mileage little by little, and thought it was time to test myself with a little longer distance.  My chosen course for praying and running was my favorite -- Rails-to-trails.  I started at the Sarver entry point with my plan being to run a little past the Marwood entry point, which would be four miles and then return.  When I had run about 1/2 a mile I encountered half a dozen army soldiers, standing on the trail with clipboards.  I said, "Hi!" as I jogged by, and they returned my greeting.  Soon I came to an orange cone, and then another one.  I assumed (correctly as it turned out) that there must have been some kind of test going on for some army personnel (probably reservists, but I didn't find that out for sure.) 

Before too long three young men in army t-shirts and shorts came running south, as I was running north.  They were running at a good pace, and I said, "Hi!"  A couple of them returned my greeting, one offering, "Good morning, sir."  (SIR!  Not the typical greeting on my morning run!)  There was a gap and then a longer line of soldiers started appearing, each was obviously running a little slower than the one in front of him or her.  By the middle of the line the folks were running about my pace (9:40 miles as it turned out, when I did the math at the end of my run).  I continued to greet the soldiers as we passed.  Most offered a greeting, one who was about my age, said, "Now, there's a motivator!" (I assume he meant that someone of my age was out running voluntarily on a Saturday morning.)  By the time the end of the line came the soldiers were either running quite slowly or walking. I wondered how far they had run.   The cones had continued to be set along the trail about every quarter mile as I ran.  About five minutes after I passed the last soldier, I came to two soldiers dressed in Army windbreaker suits.  They were carrying cones as they walked.  I greeted them, then asked, "How far are they running?"  I wasn't really ready for the answer, "Two miles."  Two miles?  I know that only a handful of them had been running faster that I was running, and they were onloy running two miles.   I was puzzled.  Was it a test, or was I just thinking it was a test.  Was there a time limit?  If there was it had to be about 25 minutes, or a lot of them wouldn't have made it.   Then it hit me---Maybe they had run the two miles from south to north and were just jogging back to the start.  I'll never know for sure, but it was an interesting change of pace for the morning. 

After I had passed the last of the soldiers, I took some time to thank God for those who serve in the military, whether on active duty or in the reservies.  I prayed that he would protect all our soldiers the world over and that He would bring peace soon in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in other global "hot spots."  It struck me that I don't always include such prayers in my morning prayer/run times.  I was grateful to God for giving me that opportunity today and for the soldiers who prompted the prayer.