{"id":320105,"date":"2024-10-14T06:41:58","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T11:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=320105"},"modified":"2024-10-12T00:01:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T05:01:48","slug":"life-runners-message-portland-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/life-runners-message-portland-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"LIFE Runners bring pro-life message to Portland marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Oregon Right to Life<\/a>) As the sun rose over the Willamette River early Sunday morning, 9,000 runners toed the starting line of the 52nd annual Portland Marathon. All were seeking to push their limits and put their training to the test. Some had an even higher goal.<\/p>\n

Among the thousands of racers who pounded Portland\u2019s pavement on October 6, a small but particularly enthusiastic group were LIFE Runners: Members of an international organization of runners committed to representing the unborn by wearing a bold yet succinct pro-life message emblazoned on their race jerseys: \u201cRemember the Unborn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bernadette Costello, operations director for LIFE Runners, shared that she chose Oregon as the location for the group\u2019s annual \u201cNational Race\u201d for a specific reason.<\/p>\n

In Oregon, abortion is legal<\/a> on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy. And while many states have implemented pro-life laws following the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson <\/em>Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade<\/em>, Oregon has doubled down on its abortion radicalism.<\/p>\n

This ongoing lack of legislative protections for the unborn, Costello said, put Oregon on the radar for the LIFE Runners.<\/p>\n

But the goal in coming to Portland wasn\u2019t only to bring the pro-life message into a deeply \u201cpro-choice\u201d city and state: it was also to share fellowship with pro-life Oregonians seeking to build a culture of life in an ideologically hostile environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing to this kind of city is encouraging for us,\u201d said Costello, a former NICU respiratory therapist and seasoned pro-life sidewalk advocate. \u201cGod has all these little armies tucked away in all these places, and they may be small, but they\u2019re mighty.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ: Judge rules Oregon pro-life group must pay for insurance that covers abortions<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, no runner begins a race without preparation, and the LIFE Runners are no different. But for them, preparation on the afternoon before the marathon looked like spending an hour in peaceful, prayerful witness outside Portland\u2019s notorious downtown abortion facility, the Lilith Clinic.<\/p>\n

Dr. Pat Castle, the energetic Air Force veteran who founded LIFE Runners in 2008, led the \u201cprayer huddle\u201d outside the Southwest 10th Avenue abortion facility, sharing words of hope and encouragement with the LIFE Runners and supporters who carved time out of their Saturday to witness for life. Pro-life advocates who assembled to pray and speak up for the voiceless included Precious Children of Portland\u2019s Peter Tran, as well as Marie Barzen, who leads 40 Days For Life\u2013Beaverton and is the founder of a soon-to-be pro-life maternity home, St. Maria\u2019s, which is currently in the building stage.<\/p>\n

Following the outreach, the LIFE Runners attended Mass at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, one of Portland\u2019s historic Catholic churches. LIFE Runners National Chaplain Bishop Thomas Paprocki (who heads the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois and has run 24 marathons) said the Mass along with his assistant, Father Dominic Rankin (a sub-three hour Boston Marathon finisher).<\/p>\n

At the race on Sunday morning, the team set up its pro-life banner near the start line, urging the\u00a0thousands of runners and spectators to \u201cRemember the Unborn.\u201d And that witness continued as the runners hit the course, wearing their bright blue shirts featuring the LIFE Runners\u2019 message, which includes a scripture reference to Jeremiah 1:5.<\/p>\n

LIFE Runners who finished their races \u2013 some participating in the full marathon and others running the half or the 10K \u2013 met back up at the pro-life banner near the finish line to cheer on the other runners.<\/p>\n

This joyful, peaceful witness to the truth about abortion and the humanity of the unborn is a core component of LIFE Runners\u2019 mission and practical outreach.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirtually every, if not every person that\u2019s walking in an abortion facility, is wounded by definition,\u201d Dr. Castle said. Being present to offer real life-affirming resources to women and families \u2013 and even to share crucial data points \u2013 can open the way for hope and restoration.<\/p>\n

Castle shared a story about a couple who arrived at an abortion facility where he was doing sidewalk advocacy. When he greeted them and asked them why they were getting an abortion, the man responded that they were \u201cdoing this to save our relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Castle shared that 90% of relationships end after abortion, a key statistic included on the group\u2019s website and on cards that the LIFE Runners hand out to abortion-vulnerable people.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if you\u2019re getting an abortion, and the reason is to save your relationship, this is not in line with your goal,\u201d Castle said he told the man, continuing: \u201cand he looked at her and said, \u2018What do you want to do?\u2019 And she said, \u2018I don\u2019t want to do this<\/em> then.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSharing that truth,\u201d Castle said, was enough to change the hearts and minds of the couple that day.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s stories like these that provide a hint that the persistent pro-abortion messaging about \u201cchoice\u201d and \u201cfreedom\u201d often doesn\u2019t reflect the reality….<\/p>\n

Read entire article at Oregon Right to Life.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published at Oregon Right to Life<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

Urge Walmart, Costco, Kroger, and other major chains to resist pressure to dispense the abortion pill<\/i><\/b><\/i><\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Oregon Right to Life) As the sun rose over the Willamette River early Sunday morning, 9,000 runners toed the starting line of the 52nd annual Portland Marathon. All were seeking to push their limits and put their training to the test. Some had an even higher goal. Among the thousands of racers who pounded Portland\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":874,"featured_media":320106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLIFE Runners bring pro-life message to Portland marathon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The goal in coming to Portland wasn\u2019t only to bring the pro-life message into a deeply \u201cpro-choice\u201d city and state...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/life-runners-message-portland-marathon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LIFE Runners bring pro-life message to Portland marathon\" 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