On August 30, 2006, I traveled to Washington, D.C., to experience a day with FCA’s rapidly expanding inner-city ministry there. The ministry, spearheaded by FCA Area Representative David Kiehn, seeks to bring restoration and prosperity to the city by touching the lives of athletes and coaches in some of D.C.’s roughest areas. During my visit I met with football coaches at Dunbar High School and Anacostia High School. What I found was that change within D.C.’s inner-city doesn’t occur overnight by passing a bill or amending a law, but by reaching the hearts of its youth with the gospel.

Last summer I was blessed with the experience of going to FCA Captain’s Camp at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga. I had been involved in FCA since middle school, but I had never been to any sort of camp, so I had no idea what the experience would hold.

It would be hard for any Average Joe to keep his legs from collapsing after enduring 26.2 miles of leg-pounding, foot-smacking pavement. For elite runners, however, this is nothing extraordinary. They run long, and they run hard in order to win — either for the personal gratification of finishing the race or for bragging rights in their sport.

But, like any stereotype, there are exceptions — like the one in this story. It is the story of one elite runner who, win or lose, pounds those 26.2 miles to give the glory to someone else. That 5-2, slender figure who runs like a cheetah on the hunt is Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba, a.k.a. Catherine the Great.

Her name is often stretched across the headlines of sports pages around the nation: Courtney Paris, University of Oklahoma All-American. Of course, it’s hard not to talk about an athlete who frequently adds to her growing list of NCAA records, which already stood at an astonishing 16 at the beginning of her senior year.

But unlike many egocentric players who drool at the mention of having their name in print, Paris remains unfazed. Yes, it comes with the territory, but to her it is “irrelevant.” She is too focused to get caught up in the hype surrounding achievements. She knows her most significant accomplishments won’t ever be listed in press clippings. Rather, they are humbly imprinted on the lives of those she influences.