Cross Country Missions/Crazy Runner 4 God

4 years ago I was the summer intern at my home church for the youth ministry position. My youth minister gave me task to take something I had a passion for and mesh it with God! That day I created Cross Country Missions. I combined my passion of running, missions, & God. I hosted my very first race to raise money for mission work. Since then I created fun, new, and exciting races the raise money for mission work! In 2012 I have already hosted the Yeti Set Run series and the Potter's House 5k. Still have the Annual Conference 5k, Bigfoot's Legend/1 Insane Trail Run, Backwards Mile, and a few others to go. And in 2013 I will be adding the Forrest Gump Challenge and creating the Cross Country Missions race series. You will receive the finishers medals from YSR, BFL, & FGC and also receive a special series medal for doing all three.

On top of hosting races I started to pick-up racing under the identity Crazy Runner 4 God in order to raise money for missions also. I created a jersey for myself to wear with the CCM logo... but it just wasn't enough. Sure, people noticed the jersey every now and then and commented how it was great and good job running for God. But I wanted to get God out there much better than that! So... why not run with a cross!

Thankfully for my very supportive running friends from Ozark Mountain Ridge Runners running organization I was able to run my very first race carrying a wooden cross! On April 28th, 2012 at the Frisco Highline Run I sat my cross on my shoulder and lined up at the start line to run 13.1 miles. Having no idea what I might be in store for running with a cross on my shoulder ( I had never ran with it before). I started out and felt great, tried to slow my pace a little but my legs just kept turning so I just kept going! I started out switching which shoulder the cross was on about every 800 meters... and then as the race continued that distance got smaller and smaller. Eventually every couple seconds I would switch. Because the length of the cross the weight pulls at me from behind so I had to hold the cross in a way so that the center of gravity from the cross would be more in line with mine. I ended up gripping the top portion of the vertical beam, bringing the horizontal beam in to my body and the bottom end of the vertical beam sticking more into the air. (Next race I am going to try and find the best way to hold it)
I ended up finishing 4th in my age division and 12th overall with a 1:38, my best time ever being a 1:21. The Lord is good, and if I practice this and run more and more races like this I will eventually be able to win some races and then I will get the publicity I am wanting to share my passion for Christ! 

It takes a lot of money to do all of the stuff I do with my missions. Gas money, race entry fees, running gear, and hosting the races for missions is even more expensive. I use my own money to do all if this, unless anyone feels led to sponsor me! So if you feel led to do so, you can make checks out to CROSS COUNTRY MISSIONS and mail it to:
PO Box 520
El Dorado Springs, MO 64744


or go to paypal.com click on SEND MONEY and send it to:

 crazyrunner4god@aol.com 

My goal is to run across the U.S.A. with-in the next 10 years and carry the cross for a certain amount everyday. To God Be the Glory!!!

Been Awhile...

Sorry about the long expanse of time I have not posted anything! My life has been being blessed more than ever and busier than ever! I have gotten engaged, I am about to graduate, and will be moving to Camp Galilee to work there! I had hopes to get a teaching job as well, but there is no open position as of now, but I don't care because all I want to do is work at camp and do work for GOD! So many ideas running through my head!

RUN TOTO RUN 50K

I ran my first ultra-marathon in February, 50k! This was one incredible experience! It was a record low of 20 degrees that morning and the course was mostly on bridal trails. Meaning that all of the mud with horse tracks in them was frozen solid and very uneven! This started out fun but turned into a disaster and foot/ankle killer. It was a 10 mile loop course totally over 31 miles. I started the race with my ipod and a water pack... but to my dismay the water in the tube had frozen and I could not drink from it! As I got into the twisty turny part of the course my headphones ripped out of my ipod and I though I had lost my ipod. I ditched my pack after the first lap which turns out still had my ipod in it! phew! As the second lap started I hung with a couple of people for awhile and chatted with them, but eventually couldn't keep up their pace and fell back. The aid stations were very cheerful and people were very excited to see me coming with my team beef jersey on. This is also the lap where my hand... went completely numb and I wanted to cry... but for some reason I couldn't. I may have whimpered a lot though. Eventually I got to an aid station that had hand warmers and I was able to warm up my hands by putting them in my gloves.

By the third lap I wasn't sure how I was going to make it 10 more miles. So as I came around past the start/finish I spotted my girlfriend(fiance now) and shouted out for her to run the last lap with me! She replied she was wearing flipflops and I told her to change into her shoes. She joined up with me and we headed out! about 2-3 miles in she asked how far the loop was... and I told her it was about 10 miles... Sorry. ooops... she didn't know it was that long! She hasn't ran more than a 5k! EVER! She replied, I love you. We ran that last 10 miles together! The course by that point had been turned into solid mud. What an experience! I have one amazing woman in my life!



Since then I have run several other races, including a 5k in a parking garage, duathlon, and several half marathons. I also hosted the Potter's House 5k race to raise money for the Christian coffee house which is a college campus ministry creating a fun and safe alternative community that students can hang out at instead of getting drunk.

I have re-amped Cross Country Missions to a 3 race Series in 2013. Consisting of the Yeti Set Run races, Bigfoot's Legend, and the Forrest Gump Challenge. Each race you receive a finishers medal, and if you complete all three you receive a series medal! Once I am stationed at Camp I will have alot of time to work on making the trails better and the races better. I have also decided to raise money to purchase an IPICO timing mat/software. This means the events would become chip timed and much better overall.