What Will it Take...

This weekend my daughter Coleen completed the Western States 100 mile Endurance Run.

Coleen Voeks crossing the finish line and receiving her finisher's medal.

This race began at 5am on Saturday and the runners must have completed it in under thirty hours. This involves running up and down mountains, through snow and heat, through the day and night. This is not her first 100 miler but an important one to her. Her father completed this race in 1984. Coleen finished in 28 hours and 46 minutes.

Coleen, 11 years-old, at Western States with her dad when he had completed the race in 1984.



As I thought about her accomplishment I began to think about the goals she had to set, the preparation and discipline it took to complete this race. The principles can apply to any goal.

Coleen’s accomplishment inspired me to set goals to finish my first novel, (sadly I have three particial novels), and have the finished novel ready to present to agents and publishers at the ACFW conference in 2013.

Getting a novel written and ready to be seen by agents, and publishers, is not a sprint but a long distance endurance run so, I think, I hope, I have set a reasonable goal. That gives me twenty-six months. I have begun my calendar of check-points to reaching my goal. Those who have finished a novel and presented it to agents please let me know if I need to allow myself more time.

Who am I going to surround myself with to help me reach this lofty place? Other writer’s of course. My daughter has her group of running friends; some went with her to California and paced her through the last part of the race. That is the kind of friends I need. Those who won’t let me quit and won’t let me put in any performance but my best.

I’ve been involved in a wonderful writer's group for three years and have attended two excellent writer’s conferences; my bookshelves are loaded with books on the craft of writing. I have the tools, now I need to apply them as I let my fingers fly across my keyboard. I hope there will be more "fingers flying" than "head banging."

Along this road to my dream, another goal I have set is to lose weight and get physically strong. I turn sixty-five on Thursday and I don’t want to look, or act, like a person of age. I am young at heart and my body needs to be able to keep up with where I want to take it.

It is time that I seriously begin the journey God has called me to, it is one I will be on for the rest of my life.

This is the prize Coleen received for finishing her race. A large belt buckle.

My Prize? A published novel.

What goal have you been pushing back, thinking, I’ll start tomorrow? The clock is ticking. What hints can you give to others for accomplishing the thing that won't let go of them?

No Guts, No Glory. Leadville!

What is it that challenges you?
What goal have you set that you are willing to lay down everything to achieve?

This past weekend I saw over 500 men and women come together

to start a journey of a hundred miles. A journey that would take them over mountains and through icy streams, a journey that started in the dark, at 4am on Saturday August 22nd, and for the majority of the 274 finishers would end sometime between 4am and 10am on Sunday August 23rd.

My husband has competed in this journey many times over the 26 years of its existence. This year it was our daughter, Coleen Voeks, who set the goal of being a victor in the Leadville Trail 100 mile run, known as The Race Across the Sky.

With the support of her husband Erik, she put aside comfort and sleep to train endlessly for this race. There could be no mornings where she chose sleep over running. She knew the mountains of Leadville, Colorado would eat her up if she slacked off; she lives in the flatlands of Kansas.

She became a victor on Sunday August 23rd with a time of 29 hours 48 minutes 07 seconds, just 12 minutes shy of the 30 hour cut off time. For those who are not familiar with this type of race, the runners keep moving during this whole time, running and walking in light and darkness. There is no time for sleep. Keeping your body fueled for this type of calorie burning event involves eating large amounts of food, which means eating at every aid station and carrying food with you.

This is a grueling race physically and mentally. At times the mind tells you that you can’t go on, and your body will very happily agree with your mind. This is where you rely on the crew of family and friends you have brought with you. They step in and evaluate your physical condition, give you something to eat, change your socks, get you dressed warmly and tell you to “get your butt in gear, you're not quitting.”

Along with training, having the right people around you when you are going toward your goals is critical. The wrong people will let you quit. The ones who share your vision will feed you, warm you, and push you forward.

There is a saying printed on the shirts given to the participants of the Leadville 100 that says:
“Don’t be fooled by her beauty, Deep within is the grit, guts and determination to move mountains.”

What mountainous goals do you have for your life?
Do you have the guts and determination to achieve them?
Do you have the right people with you to push you and pull you across the finish line?

"It's not the mountain we conqueror but ourselves." Sir Edmund Hillary

The race at Leadville had a 30 hr. limit, your time limit is your lifetime.

Coleen Voeks, finisher of Leadville 100, The Race Across the Sky