OFF THE HOOK!

Sharon Pierson, Faye Powell, Jackie Greer, Ed Pierson, Chris Gillespie & Terry Greer

This past weekend we had a great time at the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Fitness Festival in Springfield, Missouri. We hosted our first ever TEAM 413 Weekend as a part of this outstanding weekend.  Several of our TEAM 413 Ambassadors and friends met us for "shirt story" times on Friday and Saturday evening.  The stories of God's goodness and grace grabbed my heart and increased my desire to move TEAM 413 forward more than ever!  It was a special time of celebration!  God bless all of you who attended!

The Bass Pro event is unlike any other that I attend - It is off the hook!  Melissa Bondy does an outstanding job putting on this festival which is truly a community wide event.  Bass Pro Shops brought their invited speakers in a day early so we could visit with people from across the area.  So, we got to town on Thursday afternoon.

 Dick Beardsley, Kiki, and Chris

Frank Shorter, Dick Beardsley, Bill Rodgers, and I were then taken to several locations to speak -- We spoke to the cross country team at Missouri State University along with high school cross country teams from the region -- we spoke to a group of 7th and 8th graders at Immaculate Conception School -- and we spoke at Boys and Girls Town of Springfield.  Then, we all spoke at the pasta dinner on Saturday evening and I led the pre-race worship service on Sunday morning.  I have wonderful memories from all of these opportunities and plan to share many of them with you in upcoming editions of GRACERUNNER JOURNAL.

Bill Rodgers & Frank Shorter with Kiki and Chris

At the TEAM 413 get-together on Saturday afternoon and at the pasta dinner we announced the most significant fundraiser in the history of TEAM 413.  On May 12 - 21, 2011 I will begin GRACERUNNER JOURNEY.  This is a 10 day - 8 city journey.

Schedule for GRACERUNNER JOURNEY
May 12 - Birmingham, Alabama - Lakeshore Trail
May 13 - Nashville, Tennessee - Greenbelt
May 14 - St. Louis, Missouri - Forest Park
May 15 - Champaign/Urbana, Illinois - TBA
May 16 - Chicago, Illinois - Lake Michigan Trail
May 17 - Des Moines, Iowa - Gray's Lake Park
May 18 - Duluth, Minnesota - Lake Superior Trail
May 19 - 21 - Fargo, North Dakota - TBA

Start of the Bass Pro Shops Half Marathon with Faye Powell

On this journey I will be running 413 miles over the 10 days.  The finish line of the Fargo Marathon will mark the end of 413 miles!  We are planning and working hard to make this a successful event.  My training has started with Jeff Galloway writing a personal training program to help me finish the drill.  We'll also be speaking in each city --- details will be posted soon.  Our goal is for folks from the community to come out to the venues and run along with me for several miles and to visit with other members of the TEAM 413 family.

We'll be raising funds for TEAM 413 - GRACERUNNER Minsitries, The Dick Beardsley Foundation, Constructores Para Cristo, and Boys and Girls Town of Springfield, Missouri.  I'll be sharing profiles of each of these organizations in the days ahead.  In addition, we'll have a fundraising page up and running soon and we'll post details on how you can be a part of this journey!

The evening before I finish the 413 mile trek, I'll be speaking at the pasta dinner at the Fargo Marathon.  I invite anyone who can be at this world class event to be there to celebrate with us at the finish line on May 21.  We'll be having a TEAM 413 - GRACERUNNER JOURNEY CELEBRATION after the race.  Details on this event will follow in the weeks ahead.

As for now -- I have to get to training!

God bless all of you for your service to HIM!

Under HIS Grace...

Chris