Reflections of a Running Reverend

Snow on the mountain peaks after the rain The leaves are all yellow now here in the Anchorage area. Some are still hanging on the branches but most of them are on the ground. The overnight temperatures are dipping. For the past week or so, I've had to scrape frost off my windshield in the morning. A quick squall yesterday left snow on the mountain tops. Its only a matter of time before that snowline finds its way down.  I hate to say this friends but the seasons are changing and winter is coming. Many people who find out that I am serving in Alaska after living most of my life in the Philippines, cannot wrap their heads around the fact that my family and I are loving it here. "How do you do it?", they ask. "You must be be miserable.", they say. But we say, "No. We love it here. Alaska is home for us now, or at least for the foreseeable future. So we have to adapt." And I feel that we have adapted well. Running in layers Adapt is what w...

I just got back from a trip to visit our churches in Southeast Alaska. What a great experience it was to connect with folks from the UMC of Sitka, First UMC of Ketchikan, and Juneau churches: Aldersgate UMC, Douglas Community UMC and Northern Light United Church (Methodist-Presbyterian). My heart has been warmed to hear and witness the wonderful things God is doing in and through these churches as they engage their mission field for Christ! I am inspired by the dreams and visions they have to change the world starting with their communities. I am encouraged by their sense of hope in the midst of difficulties that each of their faith communities is facing. I am humbled by and truly grateful for the radical hospitality shown to me in all of these places. The trip was also filled with deep lessons for life and ministry. I will be writing about these in the next couple of blog posts. Let me start with this one today: When I was in Sitka, Pastor Ferdie Llenado and two of his sons bro...

Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead, Find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed: Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see All the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be. I love these words from the hymn "Come and Find the Quiet Center" by Shirley Erena Murray. They remind me of my constant need to center myself in God before I engage the busyness and the business of the day. It is so easy to get caught up with the demands of our to-do lists and our chores, places to go to, people to meet and schedules to keep. With the continuing advancement of information technology, the temptation is stronger than ever to dive into our work first thing in the morning. And that just dictates how the rest of our day would go, doesn't it? It doesn't slow down from there. We continue on that dizzying pace until we are ready for bed. And even from bed, we find ourselves checking that last email,...

Map of the last race I ran I used to never study the map of a course before a race. It's because I knew my running buddy Stephen did that. And since I ran my first three marathons with him, I never bothered. I would maybe look at the map a couple of times, just to have a sense of where the course would take us. But I seldom paid attention to the details. That changed during my last race, which I ran without Stephen. I felt that I had to have a better grasp of the courses' intricacies. And because it was a longer distance than I had ever ran before, I paid close attention to where the climbs were, where the aid stations were located and where the flats and downhills were situated. I had to plan for these. I had to know where the inclines and declines were, and how long they were so I could pace myself. I had to know where the drink stations were so I could regulate may liquid intake. I had to know what food and drink was available at the aid stations so that I knew what to...

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7, NRSV Finishing strong. This is what every runner hopes to do at every race and run. For long distance runners, it means running all those miles but leaving enough in the tank for that final push. My running buddy Stephen uses a very Alaskan metaphor of a woodstove or fireplace. At the start of a marathon, he would remind me to pace myself, to time the "feeding of logs into the fire" strategically so that the flame keeps going. He also reminds me to leave enough for the final push. Then in the last mile, he goes, "Alright, Carlo, whatever logs you've got left, this is the time to throw it all in the fire! Time to go all out!" One time, I actually told him, "I don't think I have any logs left." I just didn't have enough in the tank to finish strong. I've since learned to pace myself better and in the last race I did, I actually had...

I did it! This past weekend, I ran my first ultramarathon, the inaugural 49K Ultra here in Anchorage. And thanks to your help, I made it, running it in 6 hours, 12 minutes and 18 seconds. I say "thanks to your help" because I know that you were with me. In my last post, Come Run With Me , I shared that I was going to do this race as a prayer run, dedicating a mile to praying for each of the churches in the Alaska Conference. And I invited you to join me in praying for at least one church. For those who were able, I invited you to run, walk, jog, or bike a mile as they prayed. I am thankful to all of you who joined me on this prayer run. I certainly felt your presence! And it definitely was helpful, especially at the points when I wanted to quit. Prayerfully thinking about the congregations, pastors and lay people helped keep my mind off the pain in my tired legs. And it motivated me to finish. The prayer run took on a whole new meaning for me with a woman I met durin...

I will be running my first ultramarathon on Sunday, August 17. An ultra, as it is fondly called, is any race longer than the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles or 42.1648 kilometers. I will be testing my limits in the inaugural 49K Ultra of the Big Wild Life Runs here in Anchorage. And while it is "short" compared to the standard ultra distances (50K, 50 miles, 100 miles and beyond), it is probably the longest I am willing to run, for now... What makes this race different from other races I've done in the past, aside from the longer distance, is my plan to do it as a prayer run. 49 kilometers is equivalent to 30.44860 miles. There are 28 United Methodist Churches in my area of responsibility. I would like to dedicate a mile for each of these churches. As I run each mile, I will prayerfully hold the church assigned to that mile, their pastor/s, lay people, missions and ministries. I will bring the following list with me: Mile 1: Aldersgate UMC , Juneau Mile ...