Saucony, the famous shoe company, is
the official sponsor of the LA Marathon. Saucony has
selected 26 people from in and around the LA Area
who have their own special reasons for running, and
believe it or not, 1 of those 26 people, is our own
founder of the God is Love Online team.
Click Here to view the Saucony26
story about Raef Guirges.
Raef Guirges and 50 Marathons:
It all started because of a small
idea. If Raef Guirges put the words “God is Love” on
every dollar that came into his hands, maybe he
could just change one person’s life. So Raef bought
a stamp and started stamping. Every single dollar
that came in front of him he stamped with the words
“God is Love”. Little did he know at the time that
these three words would eventually start him on a
life changing journey.
The words “God is Love” soon
appeared on the front of Raef’s house. He realized
that if he put the words on the front of his house,
even more people would notice the message. He also
had the words painted on his backyard wall as a
reminder to him, his family, and any visitors. The
words reminded everyone of God’s love. Most of all,
they were an inspiration in Raef’s life.
For thirty five years, Raef was a
smoker. His addiction affected everyone around him,
most importantly to him, his family. His struggle
with cigarettes was a long and difficult struggle.
Finally Raef was able to break the habit and he knew
why. It was because of his faith in God and God’s
unconditional love. Raef realized the blessings in
his life that he had been given and wanted even more
to continue to spread the word of God’s love.
One day, Raef realized his calling.
While in bed one morning, he watched the Los Angeles
Marathon. That very moment, he knew what he wanted
to do. He would train to run the Los Angeles
Marathon. He started on a very small scale; trying
just to run around the block. After a few months, he
was running a few miles per day. Eventually he was
able to run a 10k run as practice for the marathon;
however, that was nothing compared to the 26.2 miles
that would be required of him in order to finish
succeed in the Los Angeles Marathon. On March 6,
2005, Raef succeeded in his goal. He ran 26.2 miles
and it took him 4 hours and 55 minutes. He had
worked hard and accomplished something that no one
thought that he could do, after all, this former
smoker had never had a history of running at all.
Once Raef had completed the Los
Angeles marathon, everyone around him thought that
he was done and life would go back to normal. But
the running bug had bitten him and Raef had much
bigger goals. He ran another marathon in Cleveland,
Ohio where his sister lived and the idea hit. He
wanted to do something big. At that moment, Raef
decided that he was going to run many more
marathons; he would run one in every state in the
country. But he was not going to forget all of the
blessings that God had provided him. From then on,
he would wear a shirt proclaiming “God is Love”. He
then decided that he would also write God is Love on
an American flag and carry that along with him on
all of his marathons.
Raef eventually created a website,
Godisloveonline.com and created an organization and
devoted it to promoting athletic endeavors. Anyone
could join Raef is his running. There was only one
rule; in order to run as part of the organization,
one had to wear a God is Love shirt. Now, more than
two years after his first marathon in Los Angeles,
Raef has only 10 more marathons to go. The road
however was not easy. He has had to endure severe
weather, long flights and exhausting drives. Long
painful nights before and after all of the marathons
as a result of probably the most difficult injury of
them all, two fractures in both legs had everyone
around him begging him to stop. No one understood
how after all of this pain and suffering he could go
on. When asked, Raef says with a twinkle in his eye,
“No matter how tired I am or how much pain I am in,
the moment I put on that God is Love shirt and hold
up that flag, the pain goes away.”
The countdown to the last ten
marathons for Raef begins in July 28, 2007 in
Michigan and his journey through all of the fifty
states officially ends in Connecticut on December 8,
2007. After that date, Raef will finally be done
with all of the fifty states. However, Raef has
bigger plans. After he is done with the states, he
plans to take a short rest and run a marathon in his
home country in Egypt, this time holding the
Egyptian flag. After that, he plans to run a
marathon in all of the countries in Europe and other
countries all over the world that hold marathons
each time holding the countries flag, with the
message he wants to spread: “God is Love.” For Raef,
it is the least he could do for God, who has blessed
him so much.
Grizzly Marathon Write-Up:
Grizzly Marathon
August 19, 2006
Race Report by Bob Dolphin
The Grizzly Marathon certainly has an intriguing
name. The designation is appropriate because the
marathon is held in a grizzly bear recovery zone in
the Rocky Mountains in northern Montana. Part of the
marathon course in the foothills of these mountains
is in bear habitat, and one runner saw a grizzly
during the race. The Grizzly Marathon on August 19,
2006, was in a beautiful setting in Big Sky Country
with rolling, grassy plains supporting cattle and
wildlife that stretch for miles in all directions.
To the west, massive mountains with cliffs rose
precipitously.
Packet pickup was held the day before the race at
the Stage Stop Inn at Choteau, Montana. There we had
the opportunity to visit with runners, including
some friends from the United Kingdom. The four who
journeyed to the States for two marathons in two
weekends were Roger Biggs, Jack Brooks, Gina Little
and Carla Hayes. Roger is chairman of the original
100 Marathon Club that's based in London, England.
Jack, Gina and I are also members of this club. We
enjoyed their company at a pasta meal at a local
church on Friday night and at a restaurant in
Fairfield after the marathon with Jim Scheer.
Former Renton neighbors of Lenore's whom she hadn't
seen in many years, Mary and Moe Embleton, met us at
packet pickup, and together we toured the marathon
course. The start/finish line of the marathon was 25
miles from Choteau, so this was a smart thing to do.
Finding our destination in the dark the next morning
could have been a definite challenge.
Lenore's first assignment of the day as a volunteer
was to assist in directing participant parking at
5:00 a.m. on this dark Saturday morning. After the
playing of the Canadian and American national
anthems, the combined field of approximately 101
marathoners and 150 half-marathoners left the
starting line at dawn (6:30 a.m.) They ran together
for 50 yards and then ran in different directions at
a "T" junction.
The marathoners ran on a rectangular course that
turned clockwise. The first seven miles were on
paved Teton Canyon Road, and I passed 10 runners in
the back of the field. Then we turned onto a gravel
road (Montana-sized gravel!), and this was the
surface for the remainder of the race. Some times
there was packed dirt in tire tracks, and this was
an improvement over the loose rocks. The elevation
fluctuated between 4,110 feet and 4,930 feet in
rolling terrain with two major hills. The highest
one was at a 19 mile turn-around on an out-and-back
section.
The first half went well, and I ran much of it. In
the second half as the air temperature rose to 85
degrees under clear skies, I walked a lot. It was
good to see friends David Nemoto, March Frommer, Jim
Scheer, Boonsom Hartman, Larry Macon, Jim Simpson,
Roger Hauge and the Brits on the four mile
out-and-back section.
In the last five miles I walked at a 16 minute pace
and finished in 6:00:48, 93rd of 100 finishers
overall and third of three 70+ males. Lenore
welcomed me at the finish line and gave me my
finishers medal.
Water, sports drink, gels and fruit had been
available on the course at two mile intervals and
were offered by friendly volunteers. At the finish
area barbecued beef burgers, hot dogs, soft drinks
and other food were appreciated by runners to top
off their "adventure and triumph over adversity."
Last month at the Paul Bunyan Marathon in Maine I
saw Raef Guiges, 50, a CPA from Torrance, CA, who
carried a large United States flag that is topped
with a cross. He's a 50 States Marathon Club member
who participated at the Grizzly Marathon in the same
manner. His organization's website (www.godisloveonline.com)
is displayed on his T-shirt. In checking this site,
I learned that his goal is to "spread the word of
God through fitness, raising money for charity
groups and supporting Christ in the Middle East."
Congratulations to Tyson Liskow, 27, of Laramie,
Wyoming, for running his first marathon and
finishing in 4:22:02. Chris Valentino of Novato,
California, ran with his son Taylor. Chris finished
in 4:54:58, and Taylor ran a 3:55:15.
Thanks go to race director David Hirschfeld, his
assistants and the volunteers for organizing the
Grizzly Marathon in the Montana countryside.
Thanks also to Lori and John Finch of Fairfield for
renovating an old building and creating the
Fairfield Park Inn 17 miles from Choteau. We enjoyed
our three nights in the "Loony Bin" (the Audubon
Room) and the delicious homemade muffins at the
continental breakfasts. Runners interested in
getting a room at this unique inn should make their
reservations early or else they'll miss the
opportunity to stay where we did or in the Cowboy,
Fisherman, Antique or Americana Room. The email
address is: fairfieldparkinn@gmail.com…..phone:
(800)844-0892 and (406)467-3373.
The elevation, gravel roads and lack of shade made
the Grizzly Marathon a big challenge. I'm glad that
I was a part of this 4th annual event and can add
Montana as a completed state in my quest to run a
marathon in all 50!
Written by Bob Dolphin
Edited, Typed and Distributed by Lenore Dolphin
