Punta Gorda Seventh-day Adventist Church

Average reading time is about 5 and a half minutes

An Amazing Fact: The 100-meter dash is one of the most popular running sports at the Olympics. It is also the shortest. The reigning 100m Olympic champion is thought of as the fastest man or woman in the world.

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Historically, the 10-second barrier has been a measurement of men’s performances, while the best female sprinters take eleven seconds or less to complete the race. Currently, the men’s world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, while American Florence Griffith-Joyner holds the women’s world record of 10.49 seconds. Of the top-12 fastest runners in the world among men, four are from Jamaica, five from the United States, two from Canada, and one from Nigeria. The fastest foot speed recorded is 27.79 miles per hour during a 100-meter sprint by Usain Bolt.

There are many different types of “runs,” such as track running, road running, or cross-country running. Distances are clustered by the terms sprint, middle distance, and long distance. A marathon is 26 miles and 385 yards. The event began in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the battle of Marathon to Athens. The current marathon record holder is Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia, who broke the record in September 2008 in Berlin by clocking in at 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 59 seconds.

The apostle Paul was a man on the move for Jesus. He once wrote, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith” (2 Thessalonians 3:1, 2). Sometimes Paul literally ran out of town when he was chased away. But his goal was not to lift up himself, but to glorify God.

How does the Word of God run swiftly? Through people like you and me who are determined to share Christ with others. Today, put on your running shoes and help spread the good news about Jesus.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1

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