THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 16, 1995 TAG: 9503160376
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
``I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.'' 2nd Timothy 4:7
When Bill Boldin lines up at the start of the Shamrock Marathon Saturday, his thoughts will be not on the soles of his feet but on the souls of his parishioners.
The names of the people he will be praying for as he runs the grueling 26.2 miles are scribbled in blue marker on his T-shirt.
``I started running to lose weight,'' confesses the wiry 34-year-old pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Chesapeake. ``Then I realized it was the perfect way for me to meditate and pray.''
Boldin's gray T-shirt has been hanging in the back of his church for several weeks, and the faithful have been signing it, asking the pastor for his prayers.
Chaplain Roosevelt Brown's name is on the shirt. He's the chaplain at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital whose son attends the church's preschool. Brown was recently diagnosed with cancer.
Sue Miles' name is written there, too. She is a member of the congregation who has been ill.
The Sunday school children have scribbled their requests: that Boldin pray for Mom and The People of Papua, New Guinea, and Ethiopia.
Church volunteer Verna Foote has simply scrawled the name ``Brett'' on the shirt. She doesn't know his last name. Brett is a 2-year-old boy who lives near her brother on the West Coast and was just diagnosed with leukemia.
Boldin wants the shirt covered with names by Saturday. He will have plenty of time to pray for all the names on his shirt, plus a few, during the 4 1/2 hours he reckons it will take him to cross the finish line at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
The running reverend of Chesapeake has been praying and training for almost a year. At 130 pounds, the 5-foot-8-inch Boldin weighs 60 pounds less than he did when he started. He feels great, and the spiritual health of his congregation has improved, too.
``It's been a lot of fun watching him,'' says Kathie Rokitski, director of Grace Lutheran's Pre-school. ``He's very enthusiastic. And when he came almost two years ago, he was pudgy with a beard. Now he's skinny and clean-shaven.''
Skinny, yes. Clean-shaven, almost. Boldin shaved off his beard recently in a church fund-raising stunt. For a price, members of the congregation could vote on whether their minister should shave. The next thing Boldin knew, he was standing over a sink with a sharp razor.
He retained a droopy mustache, however.
An innovative fund raiser, Boldin has allowed church members to pledge $1 for every mile he runs in the marathon - 33 people have pledged so far. The money will be used to paint the cross in front of the church on Providence Road and to mount a large sign on the church building.
``It will help people find us,'' Boldin says hopefully, noting that his one-story church is sandwiched between bigger houses of worship on either side.
Sitting in his church study, surrounded by Bibles, theological tomes and biographies of Martin Luther, the minister admitted that one of the reasons he loves to run is that he finds it hard to sit still.
``I do not like being cooped up,'' Boldin says. ``That's one of the great things about being a pastor. You don't have to sit behind a desk all day. I visit our shut-ins, make hospital visits, I get out.''
Boldin says running helps clear his mind.
``I meditate the whole time I run,'' Boldin said. ``I've taken more than a few wrong turns during my training runs because I was so deeply in thought.''
Members of the Grace Lutheran congregation have promised to gather around the 20-mile mark Saturday to cheer their pastor through the toughest part of the race.
Boldin says he's hoping just to finish.
``After all, St. Paul said he'd `finished the race,' he never said anything about winning it,'' Boldin says, laughing. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JIM WALKER/Staff
by CNB