The Will to Overcome

May 21, 2001 began as any normal day. Little did I know at that time things were going to change. After waking up, it was time to take a shower. As I was in the shower, I began to experience dizziness like I never have before. I could not keep my balance and was falling to the left. I crawled from the shower and laid down in the bed. My mother was in town and I told her I was not feeling well so I was going to lay in bed. As the dizziness continued to get worse, I asked mom to get me to the doctor.  After many many tests, an MRI revealed that I had a stroke. I ended up spending 8 days in the hospital back then.

Fast forward to today. Today is the 10th anniversary of that stroke. I wanted to do something today in honor of that day 10 years ago. With my endurance, the perfect fit would be a race of some sort. I wanted to try and find a race with a challenge. As I looked for events on May 21, I came across the Gladiator 5K. I thought this would be the perfect type of race that puts obstacles in your way, just as the obstacle of the stroke was to me.

As with health situations, there are obstacles to overcome. You have to fight through these obstacles and have the will to overcome. The same is true with any race and especially with the Gladiator 5K. Throughout the course there was going obstacles to conquer. There were tests for your balance, climbing abilities to scale 6' and 8' walls, getting low and crawling through tunnels and under cargo nets as well as going through a pool of water. Since today was a warm day, that water felt pretty good.

Being able to complete this challenge with friends and run it as a team made it even that more special. Thank you to my friends Jon, Mark and Brandon....or should I say fellow gladiators. We came, we conquered, we finished the challenge. Thanks guys for being there today. Words cannot express how much that meant to me to have you guys there. 

Here are a couple of photos.  The first is before the start and the second is after the race.

We have challenges in our everyday life. They may be at home, at work or even in a race. God gives us the strength and abilities to overcome all challenges. Thank you Lord forgiving me the opportunity to glorify you today. God provided the will, the determination and the strength to overcome the stroke 10 years ago and he provided for today and will provide forever.