John ran the Comrades!

I'm back!!! For some reason we can't access the internet at home anymore, and I haven't been at work for 2 weeks. I hope none of our faithful readers worried that we'd perished. In fact, we've been having a great time. There are some AWESOME places to visit in Africa - consider it.

John did SO well in the (insane) 89km Comrades marathon. There were 11,000 runners, and two died. Hundreds had to be hospitalized and hooked up to i.v.s. Most people were crossing the finish line and then collapsing. John (of course) finished looking incredibly relaxed, and wanting to walk back to the beach for a swim! In the evening we went to a restaurant, and a fellow Comrade runner and diner had to be hooked up to an i.v. (at the dinner table!) and wheeled out by paramedics! John ran the race in just under 9 and a half hours, and I was so proud. He said the first 82kms went really well and then his quads gave out (there aren't many hills in Harare, and there are a LOT of hills on the Comrades marathon!) and so he walked the last 7kms. We watched the finish on television. At the 12 hour mark, they fire a gun, and anyone that comes in after that shot does not officially qualify nor get a medal. It was horrible to watch. Imagine - after running all day!

Comrades took place in Durban, South Africa. Let me just say that the Indian ocean is GORGEOUS!!!!!! Every morning I would watch the sunrise and read the Psalms and just enjoy God's creation. The ocean reminds of God - so vast and infinite. We also spent a few days by the ocean in Maputo, Mozambique. The town of Maputo isn't that fantastic (for a tourist, that is), but the ocean is still the ocean, and it was wonderful to spend a few days at the beach (and we ate prawns... every day, sometime twice a day!) We didn't do anything too wild in Mozambique, but it was good to rest and eat and watch t.v. We don't have a t.v., so it was quite something to wake up and watch a movie and then watch another one before we went to bed. More later...