Religion Today: No Shortcuts
Guest Writer Spotlight: No Shortcuts – By Richard Lewis
Rosie Ruiz had just bested all the female favorites in the 1980 Boston Marathon. Her time of 2:31:56 was the fastest female time in Boston Marathon history as well as the third-fastest female time ever recorded in any marathon. She crossed the finish line and was whisked to the winner’s podium, where she was decorated with a medal and a laurel wreath.
After everyone had caught their breath from this surprise victory, there began to be some skepticism. Ruiz had never run any marathon times even close to the time she set that day. She had cut 25 minutes off her previous best marathon time – a rare improvement in performance for a runner who had been training for only just over a year.
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As she crossed the finish line, she looked well-rested and her hair was perfectly styled. Ruiz did not have the trim muscular legs that you would expect of a marathon runner. Some of the other women runners congratulating her had tried to visit with her but quickly realized she did not understand basic running terminology.
It took only a few days before her fairytale finish result started to fall apart. Two Harvard students came forward and were certain they had seen Ruiz come out of the crowd and start running only a half mile from the finish line. No photos or video of her could be found in the race footage.
Rosie Ruiz is seen being assisted by police officers after she was first to cross the finish line of the 1980 Boston Marathon. She was later disqualified after marathon officials determined she had cheated her way to what at the time was believed to have been the fastest finish ever recorded.
The first and second placed women at the 20-mile mark could not recall being passed by Ruiz. Another witness came forward and indicated that during the New York Marathon, which was a qualifying race Ruiz used for the Boston Marathon, they had helped a woman runner on the subway who had said she was injured and was trying to get to the finish line to see the end of the race.
So it became clear that Ruiz had shortcut the course of the qualifying race by riding the subway to the finish. It was suspected she had used a similar tactic in Boston and so the Marathon officials were left with no choice but to disqualify Ruiz.
On the Thursday after Monday’s marathon event, officials arranged for women’s winner Jacqueline Gareau to fly back from her Canadian home and they recreated the finish line area with 3,000 staged “spectators” so that photos could be taken with her breaking the finishing line tape.
As of the year 2006, Ruiz still maintained that she ran the entire 1980 Boston Marathon and has refused to return her medal.
Ironically, if she had crossed the finish line 30 minutes later, her deception would never have come into the spotlight.
As she crossed the finish line Ruiz had on an official number. She looked like she had run the race but on closer inspection she had probably run less than a mile. The thin veneer she put on pretending to be a finisher and indeed a champion, quickly started to melt away.
Rosie Ruiz took a shortcut to the finish line.
Is there a subway we can hop onto in our spiritual walk that will quickly speed us to our destination? Is there an easy way to learn to walk consistently by faith? Is there a speedy shortcut to learning to love the unlovely? Is there a simple 5 step plan to be able to forgive long held anger or resentment toward those who have wronged us? There are no shortcuts. All these are a part of a growth process. For each of us there is a race that God has laid out for us to run and there is a finish line to cross, into glory.
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We are a work in progress:
Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Paul gives us some input on getting to the finish line and it does not include taking shortcuts.
Answer God’s heavenward calling to the finishing line:
Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Finish well:
2Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Seek the eternal prize:
1Corinthians 9:24-25 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”
Put aside any hindrance and fix our focus on Jesus:
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Richard Lewis is a graduate of Arizona State University (Advertising) and California Baptist University (Computer Information Systems). Richard and his wife Sue met while they served as staff members at Campus Crusade for Christ for 8 years in the 1970’s. Richard served in the Campus Ministry at University of Texas at El Paso, Louisiana Tech and at the International Headquarters in San Bernardino, California.
Following their ministry in Campus Crusade Richard was the owner and manager of a bicycle shop in Riverside California for 19 years. After retraining in the computer field at California Baptist University, Richard worked as a Information Systems contractor and employee at Boeing for 17 years. Richard has written over 150 published articles in Information Systems and Computing publications including Windows Magazine and Windows Scripting Solutions. Richard has served in a leadership role as a Deacon and Elder in several churches as well as being a meditation presenter and Men’s Ministry coordinator.
Richard has written hundreds of meditations and devotionals that have been used in church and small group meetings. Many of these have been published in The Upper Room and Racers For Christ publications and on their web sites.
In 2021 Richard published a collection of his devotionals. These are available in a Kindle and paperback format on Amazon (ISBN 979-8705738878) “Life Stories to Uplift and Encourage”.
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Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.