I made my marathon debut on Oct. 5th at the US Marathon Campionshps - Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota. The race was a battle of the elements as the rain and wind kicked in about 2 miles into the race and didn't let up until the finish.

All the advice I had been given was to start out conservatively or else you would blow up late in the race, so that is what I did - running the first two miles at about 5:35 pace. Then it was time to climb up the ladder and attach myself to a group. Thankfully I was able to work with Trent Briney (who finished 6th overall) to get back in touch with the group that was right ahead of us. From there until about mile 18 -20 it was group work (big thanks to fellow Team XO runner Dan McClean!). When we hit the final hilly section at about mile 20 it was time to start moving. My legs were heavy and starting to sieze up because of the cold, wind, and rain but praise be to God that I was able to keep pushing through. The last 3 miles of the race I had no idea what place I was in but I just kept passing by runners that were ahead of me. Then with about 1k to go my friend Nick Scheutze (who was riding the course cheering) yelled at me that I was in 12th place. Was I ever shocked to hear that! I was able to hold on till the end - with my mind repeating the lyrics to one of Lecrae's new songs from the album 'Rebel' - and finished in 12th place with a time of 2:22:31. What an experience!