Running into the city park and finally seeing the 13-mile checkpoint was a major victory for me. I still felt like I was in misery, but it was more the heat than anything else. With every step I just kept thanking God and trusting He had it all under control.

We were only halfway. Thinking that I would have to run what I just been through in distance one more time was too much for me to think about, but I wouldn't quit. Even if I didn't make it to the finish until the wee hours of the morning, I wouldn't quit. I felt like I was still running, but when I looked at Gord I saw that he was walking next to me. I guess I was a pathetic sight, but I really didn't care anymore. I didn't care what people thought.

At first, when the black truck pulled up beside us, I thought it was an observer waving to cheer us on, but then it stopped. The gentleman driving leaned out his window and started to explain to us that we were to stop running - the marathon had been called off due to heat! I stared at him for a minute, wondering if this was a dream. Then I sat down on the curb and knew what devastating thankfulness felt like. I could finally stop running, and it wouldn't be because I quit. God had kept His promise in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." God had made the way of escape so that I was able to bear it. As far as I know, it was the first time in the history of the Manitoba Marathon that this had happened, and I do believe God arranged it for me!