Dean Karnazes is a modern day Superman. He has run fifty marathons in fifty days in fifty states, and runs ultra marathons of over 200 miles. He details his amazing accomplishments in his book Ultramarathon Man.
After one particularly grueling 200 mile marathon he shared the following contents of his nutritional intake during the run:
8 Power Bars 1880 calories
Slurpee 480
Pizza 4500
4 Bananas 420
2 Chicken Sandwiches 1040
1 Bag of Doritos “ 1120
1 Cheesecake 2850
5 Chocolate Chip Cookies 1340
1 Cinnamon Buns 760
4 PB and Honey Sandwiches 1200
3 Large Beef Burritos “ 1572
2 Smoothies 850
1 Pretzel 620
1 Chicken Wrap 840
1 Chocolate Malt 1150
1 Ice Cream Sandwich 410
2 Mac and Cheese 770
1 Chocolate Eclaire 390
3 Doughnuts 570
3 Bags of Trail Mix 1050
3 Large French Fries 1320
1 Chocolate Espresso 400
30 Pedialytes 2400
The grand total of what he consumed during the hours of the race was 27,932 calories! Dean has been able to show the world new understandings about what is possible.
In fact, it is from the sport of running that another astonishing example of possibility comes.
For centuries men have tried to run a mile in four minutes. It has been attempted for thousands of years. The Romans and Greeks even tied athletes to bulls so they would run faster and develop stronger muscles, but in the end no one was able to complete the mile in four minutes.
It was simply deemed impossible, and people concluded that the physiological makeup of human beings prohibited them from this feat. In a well known slice of history, one man shattered millennia of belief when he did in fact run the mile in four minutes in 1954.
Roger Bannister finally did what people had tried to do for thousands of years, giving people a new reference about what was possible. Amazingly, once people had a new belief because of his model, within the next twelve months some two dozen others were able to break the four minute mile as well; something that today is a common occurrence. It is remarkable how everything changes when someone opens to us the truth.
Consider; while the United States represents 5% of the world population, Americans consume 50% of the world's illegal drugs, spending more on narcotics than on education. It is also of note that the three best selling drugs in America all are used to treat one thing; stress. However, things need not be like this once we know who is on our side and realize just how much we are capable of.
In scripture we read, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."(1 Corinthians 9:24). The Apostle often used sports as a metaphor for spiritual growth.
Indeed, both can be demanding and both require that we push ourselves to the limit so that our muscles can more fully develop and our endurance increases. And in the end we will be able to look back and see how far God has brought us and be amazed as we can testify that, "With God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26).