2017 Unlabelled Run Story
Running The Good Race
Justin Cheong​
​
Confession: I hate running. Never liked it, nor the perspiration and exhaustion that comes with it. But with frolleagues (work colleagues who are friends), I appreciated it. They are the ones whom I share many a lunch and laugh with. They are also the ones who started me off on a journey to get – and stay – fit, beginning by dedicating one day a week (we call it “Walk Walk Wednesdays”) to wander around our office environs after work.
​
One Sunday, the Unlabelled Run came up in the church announcements, and I was immediately prompted by the Holy Spirit to rally my work kakis to participate – not only as a personal challenge, but, more importantly, as a way of supporting the removal of labels.
Too often, especially in the media industry which my frolleagues and I are in, we hear words like “stupid”, “slow”, “amateur”, “too fat”, “so gay”, “lousy”, “cannot make it”, “ugly” – all of them unkind and unnecessary.
​
So when I asked them if they wanted to support a run against labels, the response was an unanimous “Ok!”. In fact, the majority wanted to sign up for the 10km run. Mind you, many of us could barely jog 2km before feeling like we were walking in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. But persevere, we did. For weeks, we pushed ourselves to run 5km, slowly increasing the distance as the date drew nearer.
On the actual day, in the many moments I felt I couldn’t go on, these lyrics kept running through my head: “And I will soar with You, Your Spirit leads me on in the power of Your love.” And before I knew it, I had completed the 10km run – without stopping! Praise God for His strength and faithfulness!
​
“Running early in the morning with the warm sunshine in my face – that’s what I enjoyed,” said my friend Amelia. “But it was the pre- and post-run that was even more special because we trained together as a group and ended off the run with a breakfast for champions! Being with our group of 10 was the real medal at the finishing line.”
