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March 7, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Pro-life runners have made it halfway across the United States and they aren’t looking back.
“This is a perfect week,” LIFE Runners coach and founder Dr. Pat Castle told LifeSiteNews.
The sixth annual A-Cross America Relay criss-crosses 5,359 miles from the East and West coasts and from the edge of Canada to Mexico.
The grand kickoff started the day after Ash Wednesday on February 14 from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on the West Coast, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City on the East Coast, Grand Forks, North Dakota near the Canadian border, and the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
The LIFE Runner teams have finished more than half of the 5,359 total miles in the relay.
Runners, walkers, crawlers and stationary supporters are all part of the ministry, aiming for the finish line in Kansas City on Palm Sunday (March 25).
Organizers say all are still welcome to join the relay and that it’s not too late to enter. After registering, participants are invited to download the free LIFE Runners App to log miles and minutes.
Anyone who wishes to join the LIFE Runners event is encouraged to pray the LIFE Runners Creed. Registered participants will be added to the Prayer Wall.
Participants can run or walk their 5-kilometer legs on the actual route or simply stay close to home and participate remotely in their local area. Dedicated pro-lifers and others have joined the LIFE Runners team from Singapore, Guam, the Fiji Islands, and Rome — even along the ancient Way of Saint James in Spain.
Whether a relay participant or not, all are welcome to join LIFE Runners at the finish line events in Overland Park, Kansas. For more details and to register, check online.
All four “arms” of the relay cross from each direction will unite at Roe Park. A full day of celebration and thanksgiving will begin with Palm Sunday Mass followed by refreshments and a rally.
The ceremonial last yards of the 12 million relay steps are marched, with a free lunch afterward. The highlight of the day is an afternoon prayer rally at Planned Parenthood in Leawood. Then LIFE Runners will join 40 Days for Life in their closing rally at Overland Park.
The LIFE Runners’ motto, emblazoned on t-shirts, is “REMEMBER The Unborn – Jer 1:5.” This message of personal worth and hope is designed to impact hearts and minds for saving precious lives.
Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart.”
The LIFE Runners Creed is:
We believe in the dignity of all human life from conception to natural death.
1. We run as a Prayer, to defend children in the womb, so that they may be born and united with our Christian community.
2. We run to build Endurance, for the race is long and we must keep our eyes fixed on You, Lord.
3. We run for Awareness, so our culture will view all human life as a reflection of Your glory, Lord.
4. We run for Charity, to provide support for mothers and fathers tempted to abort their child, and healing support for post-abortion women, men and families.
5. We run to End abortion, for Christ died so that all may live.
Guard us all, born and unborn, with Your PEACE, Lord. For in You, life is victorious. We pray and run in Your name, Jesus Christ. Amen.