The Marathon of Faith: Rio 2016

The Marathon of Faith - Rio 2016

By Vis Writer

Copyright © 2015 by Vis Writer

The Marathon of Faith – Rio 2016

ISBN: 978-1-329-12652-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

…

Inspired by God

For John and his mother;

To Eliana, Stephen, Stephanie, and Stacey;

Not for Profit -

All proceeds go to help the: www.HomelessInBrazil.org

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pre-race

Mile One

Mile 2

Mile 3

Mile 4

Mile 5

Mile 6

Mile 7

Mile 8

Mile 9

Mile 10

Mile 11

Mile 12

Mile 13

Mile 14

Mile 15

Mile 16

Mile 17

Mile 18

Mile 19

Mile 20

Mile 21

Mile 22

Mile 23

Mile 24

Mile 25

Mile 26

The Finish

Post-Race

Pre-race

Sunday, Aug 21, 2016

TV Announcer with the Rio de Janeiro Sambódromo in the background

Announcer: "Hello everyone, and welcome to the live coverage of the final event of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. My name is Abe Jones and I will be your host. Not only is this the very last event but this will truly be one of the most beautiful and most spectacular events of the Olympics as the runners start and finish at the grandiose Sambódromo, famous for the huge Carnival parades, before running through the streets of old downtown Rio, then up and down the sun-bathed streets along the world renowned Rio beaches, and then back through the downtown section of the Marvelous City all the while with the Christ Redeemer Statue as the backdrop – the most publicized picturesque scene in all of the earth!

Once again the African nation runners are the favorites to haul in the majority of the medals as they have done in the past five Olympic Marathons. It should be Kenya versus Ethiopia, unless there is an upset in the making. Kenya has 9 of the top 20 runners in the world while Ethiopia has 7 of the top 20. Between them that is 16 of the top 20 marathon runners, but unfortunately each of them can only enter their three best in this event. Here are the three Ethiopian favorites in their countries green, yellow, and red uniforms: Dawit Abel, Biruk Yonas, and Nahom Jemal."

The camera pans on the three slender dark skinned athletes as they stretch their legs in different positions as their white-skinned overweight coach looks on; offering words of wisdom every now and then.

The three Kenyan runners are right next to them and are also considered heavy favorites, in their traditional red and green uniforms: Ken Masa, Simon Bett, and Martin Kiprop.

Again, the camera zooms in on three other slender, dark skinned athletes as they stretch their legs in different positions.

One additional favorite from Africa is a lone Angolan runner, Reverend Iehoshua Da Cruz, who has ran two of the best twenty marathon times in the past two years which also places him in the top twenty. Yes, that’s right, I did say Reverend. He is the pastor of his church back in the small town of Luau, on the extreme Eastern boundary of Angola. Keep in mind though that Angola has never won an Olympic medal in this event. Who knows maybe he is going to have a little help from above in this race, and today just might be his day. Here he is in his country’s dark red and black uniform.

The camera closes in on the wide-grin face of the lone Angolan runner as he touches his toes from the sitting position.

Brazil has also never won an Olympic gold medal in the marathon event, although they did win a bronze in the 2004 Olympics. But with the home crowd cheering you on, the additional adrenalin can give them an advantage. Maybe this is their year… Here are the three Brazilian runners…Jose dos Santos, Joshua dos Santos, and Eder dos Santos in there bright yellow and blue uniforms famous around the world for their 5 time World Champion soccer team. And, no, they are not brothers and are not related. ‘dos Santos’ happens to be the most dominant last name in this country and it means ‘of the Saints’. Brazil is a very religious country that at one time was close to 95% Roman Catholic but is now dominated by all faiths.

The camera pans the three, lighter-skinned athletes also stretching their legs

We have a specially prepared video for you that will take you through the entire 42,195 meters or 26 mile, 385 yards in just 5 minutes showing you all the splendid beauty of this event……

…

Iehoshua walks up to a tanned, tall and slender Brazilian runner and asks in a deep, firm baritone voice. Are you Eder? (In native Portuguese)

Eder is timid and confused. Yes, but how did you know my name?

I have been commanded to give you a message from above…(pauses) now just wait and let me think because it has to be exact words.

Iehoshua pauses and closes his eyes. After a few seconds he opens them. Ok, here it is. ‘Follow me’. (Pauses) ‘Run to the light as fast as you can.’ (Pauses) And ‘Keep the Faith’. You got it? Please repeat it for me so I know you got it right.

Eder is still amazed with his eyes wide open, pauses, and then stutters as he tries to repeat the phrases. ’Fol…Fol….Follow Me’, ‘Run to the light’, and ‘Keep the Faith’.

Almost right; ‘run to the light as fast as you can’.

Eder is confused and still trying to understand. But why are you telling me this and who are you?

Sorry about that, let me introduce myself. I am Reverend Iehoshua from Angola. At times I get visions and messages that I am strongly compelled to give or else.

Or else what?

Or else I get in trouble from the big guy up above. Reverend Iehoshua pauses as he glances and points to the sky. You must be going through a very deep crisis of life and faith because this vision and message are very clear.

Reverend Iehoshua pauses again for just a second. Do you believe?

Eder is taken aback by the unexpected question and again begins to stutter. Yea… I mean… yes I believe.

I have seen your face almost every day for the last couple of months. I also see a very beautiful lady that seems to be sick in bed… could this be your wife?

Eder lowers his head with a very concerned and sad look. Yes, my wife has cancer.

Very sorry to hear that, but that for sure is part of the grand plan.

Eder’s eyes open wider. What do you see about her? Will she survive?

That answer unfortunately is not in the vision.

Iehoshua waves his arm at Eder. Let’s go. They’re calling us to the starting line. Oh, and by the way, I think the ‘me’ in ‘Follow Me’ meant someone greater than me, but we can run together if you like.

They walk up to the line with all the other runners from all nations, multi-colored uniforms representing their nation’s flags, several runners making a sign of the cross, some just bow their heads and close their eyes as they wait…

…..

Announcer: Let’s go down to the official race steward who will get this race underway. It is now almost 8 am in the morning, the official start time.

...

Race Steward: Runners, take your marks; Get set; Boom.

...

Announcer: "And there off! The runners start their way up the beautiful Sambadrome. It is 600 meters from one end to the other. The seating capacity for this event is 33,100, but I can tell you that there are at least 40,000 packed in here today. What a beautiful site! It's a rainbow of colors as 105 athletes go by the cheering crowd giving them a standing ovation. It will take the runners less than two minutes to cover this first 600 meters before exiting to streets that lead to the city, the bay, and the beaches. What pageantry! What elegancy! What a way to finish a fantastic Olympics!

The runners have ended up with a near perfect morning to run this event; Only clouds on the horizon in this big dark blue sky, almost no wind, the temperature is right at 16oC or 61oF, and because it is still winter here in Brazil the air is very dry, only 42% relative humidity. We just very well could see a new Olympic record with these ideal conditions. The current Olympic men's record is 2:06:32, set at the 2008 Summer Olympics by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru of Kenya with an average speed of 20 kilometers per hour. Even the marathon world record might be within reach for this superior group of athletes. The world record at this distance is 2:02:57 that was set in the Berlin Marathon by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya just two short years ago in September 2014. The runners are still all together in one big group. They are almost to the other end of the famous Sambódromo, basically resembling a race car drag strip, and the crowd is still quite noisy. There are huge TV screens strategically set up in front of each section of grandstands that will continue to televise the race live, so most of the crowd will sit down and enjoy the race as they wait for the runners to come back for the grand finale – the finish! At the end of the strip, the runners will exit straight out of the Sambódromo and make a big smooth right turn on to President Vargas Avenue that will take them through the grand and historic downtown Rio de Janeiro."

Mile One

Announcer: Ok, the runners are exiting the Sambódromo and there they go into the streets. Look at the huge crowds lined up along both sides of the road to capture a glimpse of the runners – for most of the city this will be the only event that they will be able to see as they do not need to pay – no tickets needed, just get in line…

Close up of Eder running alongside Iehoshua as he thinks to himself... What did he mean by ‘follow me’, ‘run to the light as fast as you can’, and ‘keep the faith’?

….

FLASH BACK (one of many)

December 31, 1993

7-year old Eder is with his dad lined up behind the rope at the annual Sao Silvestre run held right before midnight every year on December 31, in the streets of Sao Paulo. His dad yells as the runner goes by, calling each of them by names along with the cheering crowd.

His dad bows down and says in a loud voice so that Eder can hear him over the noise of the crowd. One day you will be one of these elite runners if you work hard, walk, not run, the straight and righteous path, and always…always.. ‘Keep the faith’.

…

Announcer: The runners are now on the main avenue leading to the downtown area. As we predicted the African nation runners are already at the head of the pack and the runners from each country are staying clumped together to pace each other. As they head towards the big Marvelous City, let’s take you through that five minute video of the race route.

Commentator: The Rio 2016 Olympic marathon, the final event of the Olympics, will start and finish at the famous Sambódromo, home of the world’s largest annual party; The Brazilian Carnival. This week-long party is held every year before the start of the more somber Christian Lent season, which is the 40 days before Easter season. Known as Mardi-Gras in French or Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, the Brazilians have several Schools of Samba" that put on grand, illustrious parades as they compete for the grand prize. The competition, or party, typically runs non-stop, 24 hours per day. Just look at these amazing costumes and dazzling dancers from last year’s event. (Clips from Carnival 2015). So here is the view the runners will see during this first leg.

After exiting the Sambódromo the second leg is a straight shot through the historical downtown. The Marvelous City gets its name from one of Brazil’s greatest writers, Coelho Neto, and then was later immortalized in a song of the same name. Rio is Brazil’s second largest city, behind São Paulo, and was the capital of Brazil until 1960, when it was moved to Brasilia. Here is the view the runners will see. On the right is the beautifully green Campo de Santana Park, one of the largest in the downtown area. Lining both sides of the avenue are Rio’s largest and most important businesses and banks. This main avenue leads straight to the city’s original port where the early settlers disembarked on a new land and adventure. Before arriving to the port the avenue ends at the prominent and one of the country’s oldest Catholic Cathedrals, Nossa Senora de Candelaria. This impressive monument was originally built in 1609 as a promise to God by a Portuguese couple that survived a shipwreck of the same name. The church was expanded and reformed to its present majestic state in 1811. The church sets right in the middle of the main avenue right before it dead ends at the port.

The runners will then be taking a sweeping right turn on Alfred Agache Avenue which is the next leg going parallel to the port. The city port is geographically located right at the mouth that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Guanabara Bay. The avenue will take them down past the old Port Market Square as they head towards Santos Dumont Airport. As the runners go past the international airport the avenue changes to General Justo and then to Infante Dom Henrique. This avenue takes them past the Gloria Marina and then to the impressive Flamengo beach that they will run from one end to the other with the world renown Sugarloaf mountain in their view at the end of the beach.

As they arrive to the end of Flamengo beach the runners will not actually make it to the Sugarloaf Mountain, but will instead wind around to Botafogo beach and bay – another extraordinary tourist site.

The street again changes names to Nações Unidos Avenue or United Nations Avenue in English. This leg takes them through two different tunnels heading towards the world famous Copacabana beach. The street changes names twice from Lauro Sadre to Princess Isabel before it dead heads at the beach. The runners take another right turn on Atlantic Avenue which runs parallel to beach and is more than 3 kilometers in length. At the end of this beach, they cross over to another renowned beach, Ipanema, made famous worldwide by Tom Jobim’s classical bossa nova song The Girl from Ipanema. The street changes from Viera Souto to Delfim Moreira as the route goes past Ipanema to Leblon Beach for a total of almost 4 kilometers.

At the end of Leblon Beach the route makes a small loop that takes the runners to the right on Visconde de Albuquerque Avenue and head past the Rodrigo de Freitas Lake. This is the close to the halfway point and the best view of the Christ Redeemer Statute created by French sculptor, Paul Landowski. The Statue is and impressive 30 meters (98 feet) tall, and its arms stretch 28 meters (92 feet) wide from fingertip to fingertip. The statue weighs 635 metric tons and is at the peak of the 700 meter (2,300 feet) Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park. Construction on the statue was finished in 1931. After rounding the lake, the runners then head back to Ipanema Beach where the runners will retrace the route back to the Sambódromo. Watch as our camera leads you back through the sights and sounds the runners will take to the finish line!"

Mile 2

Announcer: The group of lead runners has just passed the one mile marker just as they go by the Campo de Santana Park. Their time was a very respectable 4:32. That calculates out to a 1:58:52 marathon! But don’t get too excited, that was just the first mile and some runners like to push the early pace to get TV time. Actually, two of the Brazilian runners, Jose and Joshua dos Santos, are leading the pack, followed closely by an American runner, John Oates, and then the rest of the group including the favorites from Kenya and Ethiopia. The other favorite, Reverend da Cruz from Angola, is also in the lead pack together with the third Brazilian runner.

…

A close up of Eder as he thinks to himself – where have I heard keep the faith before, where was that? What was I doing?"

…

Fast forward 9 years

Sunday, June 23, 2002

16-year old Eder in his best Sunday clothes is sitting in a white plastic chair in the third row of a make-shift church made from an unfinished garage with his two younger sisters, mom, and dad. The small, improvised church with bare concrete flooring only has room for six chairs on each side of the narrow center aisle. The unfinished brick walls have recently been painted with one coat of white paint and shine brightly from the mixture of sunshine coming in from the front and back, and from the simple overhead lights hanging from wiring strung on the wood framed ceiling supporting the red ceramic roof tile. A beautiful, fare skinned girl dressed in a simple white dress sitting in the front row across the aisle with her parents and two younger brothers catches his eye. She turns at that exact moment and gives him a smile that melts right through his chest and drops his stomach to the floor like a roller-coaster. She has dark eyes with shiny, long black hair that is tied in a pony-tail and goes down more than halfway of the back of her cloud white dress creating an enormous contrast of black on white. She turns back around as the Pastor Francisco, in his traditional black suit and tie with a white shirt is giving the final prayer.

Pastor Francisco is concluding the service. ….. by the power and light of God, we ask that He lead us down the right path at all times. Amen. My brethren, Keep the faith and don’t forget to say good-bye to each other with the Peace of God and a simple handshake.

As is typical in tropical Brazil, the true melting pot of the world, the majority of the people are different shades of tanned-skin, some darker than others. Pastor Francisco is tall and thin, with very dark skin. Eder and his family are the normal bronze while the beautiful, new girl stands out in the congregation with the fairest skin of them all.

After the blessing, as Eder, his sisters, and his parents are saying good-bye to the others. Eder, from the corner of his eye, glimpses the girl in the white dress walking up the aisle and wants to catch up with her, but Pastor Francisco stops him and his family and says to them, Wait up a second and let me bless and anoint your family before you leave.

He picks up a small, round bottle of a dark greenish oil, removes the blue cap and turns it over in between his finger and thumb, and touches his father’s forehead and says May the grace of God protect you always.

He repeats this for each of the other four and then says to Eder; God expects big things from you and the win at the city race today is just the beginning.

Eder blushes and says, Pastor, I am only 16, there is no way I am going to win the city race today. The other runners are much older with more experience and they have trainers.

The pastor replies. Son, at times it is only a matter of keeping the faith.

As they are leaving, Eder is trailing the others when the pastor touches Eder’s arm and whispers softly to him. The new girl’s name is Gelita, just thought you might want to know. The pastor smiles an enormous all-knowing smile. Eder instantly seems to go into a sudden zombie daze as he walks slowly up the only aisle of the garage-turned-church and towards the exit.

…

Fast forward to the last kilometer of the city race

The sign shows ‘Bebedouro Annual 10-K City Race’. The first three runners each with a different brand new uniform with names of sponsors on the front and back are just passing the Start-Finish line with the ‘9-K complete and 1-K to go’ sign being flashed and Eder, in his old yellow soccer shirt and blue shorts, is 100 meters off the pace in fourth place. He passes in front of his sisters, mom, and dad who are frantically cheering. As he continues to run past the screaming crowd the sun abruptly bounces its light off a white dress that almost blinds him – it’s the new girl with her brothers, her parents, and Pastor Francisco. Pastor looks at him and just smiles and says Keep the Faith.

He suddenly sees a strong light coming from a thin, glowing white-robed figure that forces him to squint and practically close his eyes. His heart begins to race faster and he begins to pick up speed running at an ever-increasing faster pace. After only one city block or 100 meters he has amazingly closed the gap to 80 meters. After two blocks he is within 50 meters of the other three runners who have also picked up the pace. Eder is running at an amazing speed looking like he is running a 200 meter sprint. At 500 meters to go he has caught up with the other runners and runs by them as if they are only jogging, but in reality Eder is still sprinting. He nears the finish line with his parents and his sisters jumping up and down and yelling. Eder breaks the white tape as he crosses the finish line a full 30 meters in front of the other 3 runners who are also running their