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Keep on running!

To help students to understand the importance of ‘pressing on’ in life and to see how life can be likened to a race.

by Tim and Vicky Scott

Suitable for Whole School (Sec)

Aims

To help students to understand the importance of ‘pressing on’ in life and to see how life can be likened to a race.

Preparation and materials

Assembly

The BUPA Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon, will take place on Sunday, 19 September 2010.

  1. Do you enjoy running? If so, are you more of a sprinter, enjoying running the 100-metres or 200-metres, or a long-distance runner (5-km, half marathon or full marathon)?

    (Ask for a show of hands for each type of race).
  2. The BUPA Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon, will take place on Sunday, 19 September 2010. There are expected to be about 54,000 dedicated runners.
  3. Does anyone know how many miles there are in a marathon? Half marathon?

    (Answer: 26 miles in a full marathon and 13 in a half.)
  4. While gym membership is falling, according to the latest research, running has never been more popular than it is now, with more people than ever going running regularly. The most recent quarterly figures from Sport England show that participation in athletics, which includes running and jogging, increased by more than 215,000 to 1.827 million between the 2007/08 survey and the 2008/09 survey. Charity 5-km runs like ‘Race for Life’ have become very popular, to raise much needed funds for worthy causes, including breast cancer research. Marathons, whether full or half, have sprung up in most major towns and cities in the UK, the most recent being in Brighton.
  5. As well as a great way of raising money for charity, running has many health benefits for those who take part: it is fun – by releasing chemicals known as ‘endorphins’, it can make people feel happier (mental/emotional health); it is good for the heart (physical health); and training for races teaches discipline and dedication (spiritual health). It is also a good way of making friends (social health).
  6. Many people have a life-long goal to run a marathon. Every year many people fulfil that goal after weeks of training and preparation.
  7. Many people see life as a race – a clear start, with stages to pass as you run the race of life. Clearly, everyone finishes the race of life – it’s how you behave along the way that will make you loved.

Time for reflection

There’s something very special and fulfilling about running alongside thousands of other runners in a long-distance running race. This is particularly the case after weeks of long training-runs, often entirely run alone. Be inspired by your fellow travellers on the journey that is the race of life, and run with perseverance the race that each one of us has entered, and all of us have the potential to win.

What you value will dictate how you run, and keep you going in the race of life.  When you feel tired and worn out with the challenges and difficulties that we will all face in life, how will you keep motivated? Keeping our eyes on the prize will help us to keep motivated. You finish a race and win a race by focusing only on the next step. Let God guide you, with good values, relationships and integrity this term, this school year and for the rest of your life’s race.

Prayer

Thank you God for being with us on the ‘race’ of life. Help us to get rid of those things that hold us back and run a race of faith, hope and love that pleases you.

Amen.

Music

The theme from Chariots of Fire
‘One more step’ (Come and Praise, 47)

Publication date: September 2010   (Vol.12 No.9)    Published by SPCK, London, UK.
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