| On the track, he finished 5th in the 10.000 metres in the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo and ran in the 1992 Olympic final.
However it was not until he switched to marathon running in 1993 that he stepped into being a world-class athlete. He really came of age in the World Cup marathon in San Sebastian in October 1993. This was his second marathon, having won the first.
The race went more or less according to plan. The aim was to win the race without any real concern about the time, Richard kept in touch with the pace and took the lead with two and a half miles to go. No-one was able to catch him. The following year he finished 4th in the European Championships and in 1996 5th in the Olympics.
Richard became a Christian at the age of 16. "It was my lower VI year at school. My brother had become a Christian six month earlier and became involved in a youth fellowship group. He invited my sister and myself and my parents to go to an outreach event near Leeds. At that event, I really felt the desire to commit myself to Jesus. Prior to that I had been brought up to go to church - I was baptized and confirmed in the Anglican Church - but it hadn't really meant anything to me. From that point onwards I became a lot more involved in a Christian youth fellowship group in the area and went to university and other fellowship groups later."
He sees running and competitive athletics as part of God's plan for his life. His Christian faith is a relevant to that aspect of his life as to any other. "When you become a Christian you do have a different perspective on your own world and your own life. The one thing you realize is that everything you have has been created by God and that talents and gifts and skills are given to us by God.
"So I think the first thing is that we recognize where they come from, in Paul's words, 'I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13)'. Were it not for God creating me as I am, I wouldn't be the person I am - I recognize the source of my strength. In fact whatever I do, I want to do it for the glory of God. That obviously doesn't relate only to my running. Over the past 13 years there have been so many things I've been involved in where that has been my prayer. Now, as an athlete, I seek to run and compete for God's glory."
Richard is not a full-time athlete. He has a quite separate life away from the track, working for the Church Mission Society. His title is Project Director which involves working as an administrative assistant in the work CMS is doing in Eastern Europe, providing help and support for the churches there. It provides a contrast to the pressure of competitive athletics.
From the Sports New Testament "Go For It!" Europäische Sportunion (ECSU), Kölner Str. 23a, D-57610 Altenkirchen
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