PREVIEW
What: Runners' Eucharist
Where: Church of St. John the Divine, 1611 Quadra St.
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Runners this weekend have another way to prepare themselves for the Royal Victoria Marathon races. It has nothing to do with tuning the body and everything to do with the runner's spirit.
"It's the part we often neglect," says 2009 Boston marathon competitor Kate Weber Brown.
The Church of St. John the Divine offers runners what parishioner Weber Brown calls "a spiritual top-up" on Saturday afternoon.
"The day before a marathon, my brain is in an absolute panic. 'How am I going to do 26 miles?' " she says.
"If I could shut off my brain and turn off my doubt, it would make it easier."
She describes the Runners' Eucharist as a low-key, come-as-you-are event that reflects on the gift of running, the tenacity of training and faith that we can conclude that which we've set out to do. It is written for and by runners.
"People preparing for a marathon pour months and months of physical work into the race -- by the time we get to the eve of the race, the emotional and spiritual self is as tightly wound as the body," she says.
The Anglican liturgy has been reworked to accommodate runner imagery. The service was adapted by St. John's rector Harold Munn, a recreational runner, in conjunction with Weber Brown's mother, a 70-year-old triathlete and Episcopalian priest in New Jersey.
