The Longest Road to Walk
According to CNBC TV Travel and some social media influencers:
The longest road in the world to walk, is from Cape Town (South Africa) to Magadan (Russia). No need for planes or boats, there are bridges. It's a 22,387 kilometers (13911 miles) and it takes 4,492 hours to travel. It would be 187 days walking nonstop, or 561 days walking 8 hours a day. Along the route, you pass through 17 countries, six time zones and all seasons of the year.
CNBC reports:
If you are thinking about embarking on this journey on foot, you will have to keep walking continuously for a total of 4,492 hours. Without breaks, the total time accumulates to 187 days.
If you are thinking about walking eight hours a day, then you will be able to cover this distance in 562 days. In this time, you can conquer the world’s highest peak Mount Everest 13 times and return, as per reports.
This route passes through several conflicted nations like Syria and Sudan. To enter some of these nations on the route, you will be required to apply for a visa.
Besides this, you will be required to deal with the scorching heat of the Sahara Desert, Siberia's nail-biting snow, and so much more.
According to multiple reports, "... no person has been able to complete this long walk so far."
The Bible is replete with references to our spiritual journey being a path, a walk, or a course. At times, walking this path of this Christian life can feel like the longest, most challenging, most difficult walk in the world. But scripture calls us to "run with endurance the race that is set before us." We're challanged to ask, "where the ggod way is; and walk in it." We're told that when we trust in God, He will "make your paths straight." We're admonished to ""Ponder the path of your feet," and to "mark out a straight path." And we're warned to never look back at the road behind us, but to "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
When the road your on feels like you're trying to trudge your way from the Capetown to Magadan, through time zones, and battle zones, over the hot sands of the Sahara, and through bone chilling snow drifts of Siberia, keep moving. The Lord Himself walked that road for you, and He will be there to receive you at the finish.
And unlike the reports of the Cape Town to Magadan road which "... no person has been able to complete ... so far," this treck has been completed by masses who alll crossed the finish line, there to hear the words of the Savior, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
"Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls" (Jeremiah 6:16, ESV).
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1, ESV).
"John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord" (John 1:23, NIV).
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV).
"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalms 16:11, NIV).
"Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me" (Psalms 5:8, NIV).
"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6, NIV).
"Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure" (Proverbs 4:26, ESV).
"Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths" (Psalms 25:4, ESV).
"So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord" (Hebres 12:12-14, NLT).
"And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them" (Isaiah 42:16, ESV).
"Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil" (Proverbs 4:26-27, ESV).
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12-14, NIV).
Run THE Race
Various news outlets report:
On Friday, March 22 [2024], Jasmin Paris became the first woman to ever complete the infamous Barkley Marathons. The 40-year-old mother from Scotland completed the 100-plus mile race in 59 hours, 58 minutes and 21 seconds. That left just one minute and 39 seconds to spare when she hit the yellow gate.
Few people who start the race ever finish it, with some years seeing no finishers at all! In fact, only 20 runners have ever fully completed the course!
So what is the Barkley Marathons and why is it considered the toughest and quirkiest race in the world?
The race began by former ultra-runner Gary Cantrell, better known as ‘Lazarus Lake,’ and his friend, Karl ‘Raw Dog’ Henn in 1986. To Henn, Cantrell had mocked the seemingly unathletic escape of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who covered only 12 miles during his 60 hours on the run, saying, 'I could do at least 100 miles in that time.'
It was from that joke and Lake’s twisted sense of humor that the Barkley Marathons were born. Originally the race was approximately 55 miles with 25,000 ft of elevation gain, but was later extended in 1989 to 100 miles. [5 20-mile loops]
The race has been run every year since, and as described above, has become even more challenging over time.
The race can start anytime between midnight and noon on race day with a one-hour warning from the sound of a conch shell. Later, the lighting of a ceremonial cigarette marks the race’s official beginning. The 20-mile loop covers the exact horizontal distance and does not take into account changes in elevation, indirect paths or getting lost. One of the other quirky dimensions of the race is that runners are required to find 9 -14 books around the state park and take out page numbers that correspond to their changing bib number each round. They must return the pages to Lake every lap to prove they didn’t take any shortcuts.
Upon Paris' historic victory she said, “At the end every fiber of my body was screaming to stop. I didn’t even know if I touched the gate. I just gave it everything to get there and then collapsed, gasping for air.”
While one can't imagine the kind of training Jasmin had to go through to run 100 miles, the quirky nature of this race reminds one that not every race matters equally.
As the old saying goes, "The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win you're still a rat." Yet we are called in scripture to keep running! Endure to the end! For a great prize awaits those who do!
In 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Paul says, "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."
The race Paul trained for was THE race that mattered! It was one of eternal significance, and he calls us to run the same race as well.
Run the Race
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s sports minister publicly apologized Wednesday and ordered that the chairwoman of the national track and field federation be suspended after a seemingly untrained female sprinter represented the African country at the World University Games in China and took more than 20 seconds to finish a 100-meter race.
The minister reported that they did not know how the woman, 20-year-old Nasra Abukar Ali, was selected to compete in the women’s 100 at the student games in Chengd. She very quickly fell behind, and finished more than 10 seconds behind the winner (in a 100 meter race, that is an eternity!).
Some charged nepotism, some charged incompetence, but all cried foul, claiming the perfomrance posed a serious embarrassment to all serious Somali athletes, as well as being damaging to Somalia’s reputation on the world stage at large.
Video of the race was shared in a tweet criticizing Ali’s participation, and calling for the head of Somalia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports to immediately step down. The video has since gone viral, with nearly 70 million views to date.
Scripture likens the Christian life to running a race, and in doing so cautions that we should not take our participation in that race lightly, but rather train and discipline ourselves to perform well.
That said, some of us will train harder than others, some will quit the race, but yet others will finally limp across the finish line, albeit well behind the rest of the pack.
Ali was not prepared for the race she had entered, but to her credit, she did finish the race. Perhaps it is her goal to keep running, keep training, improving her fitness and her time. Or, perhaps she entered the race with no other motive than to mock the process. We can’t know.
What we can know, though, is for those of us sincerely called by God into the Christian life, we are called to “run with endurance, the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, ESV).
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. Do your best to come to me soon” (2 Timothy 4:7-9, ESV).
“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24, ESV).