Today we had our Jefferson Baptist Church half-marathon fun run/walk. We had almost 40 people, with about half walking and half running, and some doing both. The weather was terrific, and everybody seemed to have a good time. It started badly for me. The race started at our house at 9:00 am, so I got up at 6:00 am to get everything ready. I took a stiff wire with red flagging on it and drove to the halfway point of the 13.1 miles. The half-marathon was an out-and-back course. I got to the 6.55-mile spot, stopped my pickup truck, and tried to push the wire into the ground on the shoulder of the road, but it was too hard, so I went farther down into the ditch. I lost my balance and fell into the ditch full of muddy water. I got up and pushed the wire into the mud, with the flagging showing. But I couldn’t get back up the bank out of the ditch, so I crawled up on my hands and knees. But when I got back up on the road, I couldn’t get back up on my feet. So I crawled over to my pickup and used it to hang onto as I pulled myself up.  A car pulled up while I was on my hands and knees, and a woman asked me if I needed help as I pulled myself up. I thanked them and said, “I got it.” If I had thought faster, I should have said that I was praying. I drove back home, got everything else ready, and then had a cup of coffee. I walked the course with my daughter, Sherrie, and had a great time. We called Patty and had her pick us up at mile 12 because my right hip was giving me fits. I think I am going to go ahead and have it replaced this winter. My left hip, the one I had replaced this last May, worked great. Sherri and I averaged 18-minute miles, a scosh faster than 3 mph, so I felt good about that. When I got back to the house, I took a bunch of ibuprofen and sat in the hot tub for thirty minutes. For most of the walk, I thought about Hebrews 12:1 that says to run the race set before us with endurance. That race is the race of life, and I do, indeed, want to run it well and finish strong.