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The Daily Signal
A Palm Sunday
Convergence of Pro-Life Runners From Across America
Kevin Mooney
March 17, 2016
When you turn to God after experiencing the raw side of life and run
more than 3,700 miles across the entire country, it’s fair to say
you’re someone who can endure intense physical, psychological, and
emotional trauma.
But if you’re Jeff Grabosky, and in you’re in the midst of another long
run, you’re not convinced the endurance that served you so well
previously will be there again.
That thought came to mind last month as Grabosky and other “LIFE
Runners” ascended the mountain regions in and around rural Nevada as
part of a nationwide effort to raise awareness and funds on behalf of
the unborn.
“We were dealing with some pretty tough elevation in some mountainous
areas—I would say going 5,000- to 7,000-feet elevation the entire
time,” Grabosky says in an interview with The Daily Signal. “So any
thought that you were in good shape began to dissipate when you tried
to breathe in the thin air. But the scenery and the skies were just
beautiful.”
Grabosky, now 33 and living with his family in Jefferson City, Mo.,
began planning for his cross-country journey back in 2006, after his
mother died of cancer. His marriage ended that same year. He wrote a
book, “Running With God Across America,” detailing his physical and
spiritual journey.
During his cross-country run, Grabosky says, he often would pray the
rosary when he encountered a difficult stretch—a technique he picked up
from his mother, who was also a runner.
Grabosky is running just as hard and just as long today as he did back
then, but he’s not doing it alone.
Grabosky and thousands of other LIFE Runners from across America began
their 40-day journey on Feb. 10, Ash Wednesday. They wore jerseys, the
backs declaring, “Remember the Unborn—Jeremiah 1:5” and fronts
depicting a shield of faith.
The annual “A-Cross America Relay” began in 2013 as an East-West run
inspired by Grabosky’s solo run in 2011, which started in Oceanside,
Calif., on Jan. 20 and ended at Smith Point in Long Island, N.Y., on
May 20.
Along the way, Grabosky met up with Pat Castle, a fellow pro-life
activist and marathon runner, who had a vision for what might come
next. Castle saw an opportunity to spread the pro-life message by
bringing together runners from across the country who shared their
Christian convictions.
Grabosky, 33, and Castle, 44, are both practicing Catholics who are
ambitious to end the practice of abortion and to protect human life
from conception to natural death.
The two men met for the first time in Alton, Ill., on April Fools’ Day
as Grabosky was making his way to New York in 2011. Castle, co-founder
of LIFE Runners, decided to press ahead with a cross-country run that
would draw pro-life activists from around the nation.
Grabosky says:
The idea here is to put our faith into action and to use the talents
God gave us to promote his kingdom. The goal is to raise awareness and
funds to help end abortion, but also to grow in our faith.
About 70 runners were part of the group in 2011, Grabosky estimates,
and now there are now more than 4,200 members in all 50 states and in
25 countries.
The route for this year’s event comprises 5,544 miles. The locations
for the start of all four arms of the run Feb. 10 were selected
strategically so the runners could form a giant cross at the finish
line celebration on Palm Sunday, March 20, at Macken Park in Kansas
City, Mo.
The East Arm (1,598 miles) began at the Brooklyn Bridge in New York
City; the West Arm (1,975) at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco;
the South Arm (1,086 miles) at Corpus Christi Bay, Texas; and the North
Arm (884 miles) at Neche, N.D., near the Canadian border.
The official route swings by abortion clinics, where participants join
in prayer with groups associated with the “40 Days for Life” campaign.
Runners also could register and run different legs from remote
locations. Organizers hoped to cover as much of the actual routes as
possible with individual or multiple participants.
Board members wanted to lead by example, so they made a pilgrimage to
Nevada on Presidents Day weekend to fill 100 miles of some of the most
difficult terrain. Grabosky and Castle were joined by Grant Fenske, 52,
who started a LIFE Runners chapter in Lafayette, La.
The Nevada pilgrimage began at a hotel in the town of Tonopah, about a
three-hour drive north from McCarran International Airport near Las
Vegas. From there, the only stop Grabosky says he remembers is a rest
area labeled Area 51 Alien Center.
“We certainly felt like we were in the middle of nowhere,” he recalls.
In an email, Grabosky recounts what happened next...
Read the rest of the article with photos at The Daily Signal
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