Team World Vision runner Kathy Risolvo gives a first-hand account about the impact that training for the Chicago marathon and running for clean water have had both in her own life and in the lives of her students. They’ve all been changed by the experience.
It’s really hard to put the [Chicago] marathon experience into words, because it is the most complex set of feelings I have ever had. Pushing my body to something I never saw possible was one thing. Raising way more money than I ever thought possible is another. Being in a crowd of over 30,000 people experiencing the same level of excitement and commitment was like nothing I could have imagined.
Making an impact
Thinking about the collective impact we had on people we may never meet blows my mind. But today I got to see firsthand the impact we have on those that we get to meet every day. One of my students showed me this. He needed to draw someone he looked up to (as a Peeps® candy) and he drew … me … as a runner … with a Team World Vision cape!
The way the students responded was like nothing I could describe. They told me that when I got tired during the marathon, I could think of their faces and know that they were cheering for me. Some signed up for local 5Ks. Some brought in medals that they had earned. And some read books about the clean water crisis. What I can say for sure is that we were all changed by the experience. And it is just the beginning!
New labels
And I realized that for the past five years, I have been wearing a set of labels that I wouldn’t have chosen. Divorced. Single mom. Unhealthy. Scatterbrained. Messy.
But in this season, I got new labels. Committed. Disciplined. Runner. Loved. And this student saw a girl in a cape setting big goals and meeting them. So, I even get to wear the label “superhero.” And I cannot wait to see what God is up to next.
