By Jennifer Brinker
Jeff Pauls qualified for the Boston Marathon during a successful run at the Rock and Roll Marathon last October in St. Louis.
The 117-year-old marathon — the nation’s oldest and most celebrated race — has strict qualifying standards, and earning a spot in the race is considered the highest honor for a dedicated marathon runner.
Pauls, a member of the national Life Runners team from Belleville, Ill., was planning on participating in the race, but his qualifying race came too late — registration for the Boston run had already filled to capacity not long after his October run in St. Louis.
When the news broke that two bombs went off near the finish line of the April 15 Boston Marathon, Pauls and his fellow Life Runners responded immediately, coming together to pray.
Founded in 2008 by Air Force Lt. Cols. Rich Reich and Pat Castle, the national Life Runners team is dedicated to raising funds and increasing prayer and awareness for pro-life issues through running events, primarily marathons.
Castle, who is president, said Life Runners had at least two teammates participating in the race — Chris Odinet from Lafayette, La., and Diane O’Sullivan from Randolph, Mass. All had been accounted for and were safe, he said.
LIFE Runners leaders immediately called the entire team to prayer through a request on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/liferunners413. The team has 1,239 members and 45 chapters across the United States and nine other countries.
The team’s motto is “All in Christ for Pro-Life.” Their jerseys are emblazoned with the message, “REMEMBER the Unborn,” with a citation from Chapter 1, Verse 5, of the Book of Jeremiah.
“After yesterday’s brutal and senseless act of terrorism at the Boston Marathon, it is apparent that now more than ever we need the conversion hope,” Life Runners leader Rob Rysavy wrote in a reflection for the team.
“However, it is foolish to believe that a society drenched in the violent blood of abortion can ever hope to turn away from violence,” he said. “Until the culture of life drowns out the abortion lies shouted by the culture of death, the ultra-marathon of violence will continue.”
Castle, who ran in the 2009 Boston Marathon, said that witnessing something as tragic as the bombing at this year’s race provides a “stark contrast” between life and death.”
“A big element of Life Runners in secular races is to bring the life versus death contrast with our ‘REMEMBER The Unborn, Jer 1:5’ jersey, reminding our nation that nearly 4,000 American children are killed in the womb daily and countless thousands of family members are injured by those choices,” he said. “As we pray for those killed and injured at the Boston Marathon, we also pray for those killed and injured by abortion that same day.”
A frequently asked question after an act of terrorism is “Why did this happen?” Castle said moments such as these should underscore the importance of putting “pro-life faith into action, to lovingly move our culture back to a culture that respects life from conception to natural death.”
Stephen Schmidt, a Life Runner from St. Louis who leads the organization’s Coalition St. Louis chapter, spent some time reading online conversations after the details of the bombing began to unfold. He said conversations ranged from those who wanted to simply express their thoughts and prayers to questions about why God would allow something like this to happen.
“There needs to be a turning toward God, but I think so many people in our culture have an attitude that only we humans can solve our problems,” said Schmidt, a member of St. Catherine Laboure Parish in Sappington.
“Perhaps when there is that belief that humans are the pinnacle and there is no being higher, it necessarily becomes a question of who’s right and who’s wrong, and maybe that’s what is polarizing our society,” he told the St. Louis Review, the archdiocesan newspaper. “Maybe turning toward God would help to bring us closer together.” – CNS