Join the Run for God 5K Challenge; training begins Jan. 25
Running can be a selfish sport, and the passion that comes from training, races, and achieving personal records can sometimes take precedence over what’s truly important: your family, friends, and faith.
Run for God founder Mitchell Hollis began running in 2007 and quickly became hooked. By 2008, he had completed a marathon and was signing up for every race he could find, no matter the distance.
After a few years of this, Hollis realized that running had become an idol for him and that he was putting running before his faith. Hollis felt conflicted and knew that he had two options: give up a sport that he loved or use running to further God’s kingdom.
The first thing he did was make T-shirts with a “funny-looking stick man” on them that read “Run for God.” Hollis began wearing these shirts whenever he ran. The shirt made people ask questions and presented opportunities for him to tell his story.
While sharing his story with others, Hollis discovered that there were a lot of people who were interested in running but didn’t know how to get started, so he created the Run for God 5K Challenge.
“For most people, running can be a daunting thought. In fact, many believe they can’t run a 5K, but this program is built to help anyone complete a 3.1-mile race,” says Hollis.
Run for God’s 5K challenge is a 12-week Bible study that guides running instructors and allows them to combine faith and endurance training in a way that helps take people, even those who have never run, through their first 5K.
“We partner with local runners, like Lisa Heyer, with LaFayette First Baptist, who want to help others learn how to complete their first 5K, understand more about the Bible, and really challenge themselves,” adds Hollis.
“I am very excited about leading this 5K Challenge,” says Heyer. “Remember, these classes are open to anyone who wants to run a 5K, even if you’ve never run in your life!”
Now having been taught in over 6,000 communities to over 225,000 student’s, Run for God’s 5K Challenge
isn’t about runners getting together to train. This class welcomes all, but is focused on teaching the fundamentals that will help new runners achieve their goal of running a 5K. The class will teach: running fundamentals and techniques; the importance of a proper fit and style of running shoes that meet your body’s needs; how to successfully use interval training; weekly Bible
study topics; how to prepare to run your first 5K.
“Plus, you’ll make life-long friendships and learn more about the Bible, yourself, and your classmates,” says instructor Heyer.
This class will be training to run in the Dalton Run For God 5k.