When I was fifteen years old, I became passionate about something that I never thought to be possible. I entered a seven-mile road race on a whim; I entered about three hours before the race was scheduled to begin. I had never run more than a mile and absolutely hated the thought of pounding the pavement. But somewhere and somehow during those ridiculously hilly seven miles in Davenport Iowa, I fell in love with the very concept of running.
I am seventeen now and still very much in love with my former enemy. Although I have not been running long, I have finished five half marathons and two full marathons, the last three of which I ran fully barefoot. I continue to be amazed each time I cross the finish line; I never thought I would even run two miles.
I had an epiphany of sorts about five months ago. I finally realized why I was running, what my purpose behind it was. I want to help people. I want to make my running have an impact on other people’s lives. I want to tie my running into the soles of others.
I am planning on running across the United States of America, beginning on April 1st, 2012. I am raising money for the Christian Organization, “Soles4Souls”. The concept of their foundation is to find shoes for people in need. Although I am a barefoot runner I know shoes are important to people’s lives; after running 26.2 miles barefoot it is very apparent how well off the majority of us are.
