Well, I finished running from Wichita to Haviland on Saturday, November 2nd. It only took me 2 weeks and a day longer than I thought it would.
We started off on a beautiful Thursday morning, Manny Garcia, Tim Marshall, my wife Cathy Rucas, Gene Stratton, Alan Smelser on the bike and myself along with Nancy Smelser and my sister Debbie Kintzel driving support vans. Gene ran several blocks with us and proved the point that it is nice to have the fellowship that people bring to something like this no matter how far you can go. Gabe Hancock joined us around Goddard and we had a nice day of running. My wife ran 13 miles before she joined the van crew and Manny also joined the van crew so he could run more later. Tim and Gabe had to leave around 4, but Manny started running with me and besides being a little tired, everything seemed to be going according to plan.
Then mile 43 happened, I ran up to the van and sat down which was apparently a big mistake. My body was too tired and running too low on everything to handle the sudden transition to sitting and I promptly passed out. Apparently that was not enough rest for my body because after coming to for a few seconds, I passed out again. We then had a nice long discussion to convince the stubborn person that he needed to stop. Needless to say I was more than a little depressed and upset, but after 12 hours of sleep I was able to see that it was for the best. I am convinced that it would have only gotten worse if I had continued.
However, as I got up and got around on Friday, I was a little annoyed with how good I felt. I responded to many people that were worried about me and tried to do as little as possible. By the afternoon I was out mowing my yard on my riding mower. My wife after running further than she had ever run before, got up and ran her usual 6 miles and just before we went to bed, she asked if I was going to run 6 miles with her in the morning. I spent the next 3 hours lying awake thinking and talking to God. He pointed out that I had committed to run from the Ministry Center in Wichita to Barclay College in Haviland and restart the “Run For Missions” fundraiser, but He never told me I had to do it without stopping. So, I got up early Saturday morning and started looking at Google maps and found that I had passed out just north of Kingman and it was 20 miles from Kingman to Cunningham. I also noticed that Cunningham to Pratt and Pratt to Haviland were also 20 mile runs. I also remembered my sister telling me that she would drive for me again if I felt the need to restart my run. Long story short, my wife and sister went with me that Saturday and we finished the 20 miles to Cunningham. Then the next 2 Saturdays my wife and parents, Keith and Patti Rucas, completed the other two 20 mile segments.
I want to thank everyone that helped with the run, everyone that came out to see me off at the Ministry Center, everyone who came out to see me finish in Haviland, everyone that walked 100 miles before I ran and definitely everyone that prayed for this event. I would also like to thank everyone who donated. We are up to almost $3,700 in donations. I would also like to encourage anyone that would like to be a part of this fundraiser next year to email me at [email protected]. We had a lot of time to talk about what next year might look like and it will probably look a little different. We thought about a relay covering the 100 miles, we thought about riding bikes for the 100 miles or maybe further. If someone feels led to run the 100 miles, let me know and you will be supported.
We will be accepting donations through the end of the year. Click here to donate online or mail your checks to EFC-MAYM 2018 W Maple, Wichita, KS 67213 Thanks again to everyone and we will see you next year!
-Mark Rucus
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