7. I run because its an Easter thing

Well, a lot has changed since my last post: COVID-19, social distancing and lockdown. These words have come to dominate our lives over recent weeks in ways unthinkable a few months ago. But alongside all this upheaval, some things have not changed. And for me one of the constants, I'm grateful to say, has been running.

As lots of people before me have already pointed out, running seems to be a human impulse. As the title of one famous running book puts it, it seems we are 'Born to run'. But yesterday I spotted something about this that I'd not noticed before. I realised that running is part of the Easter story.

In John's account of the resurrection, the first runner to be mentioned is Mary Magdalene. We're told that when she went to the tomb and saw that the stone has been removed from the entrance, she "came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple (John 20:2). And then Peter and the other disciple get in on the act and start running as well. "Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first" (John 20:4).

We're not given any more details about these early morning runs that first Easter Sunday. There's no Strava trace to tell us how far or fast they ran, or over what terrain. But I can imagine their hearts were racing... 

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