Courage to Start, Faith to Finish

I believe I first saw the quote, "Courage to start, faith to finish" in an issue of Runner's World magazine.  Ever since then, I have lived by that motto.  One of my Duckateers (nickname for my Steamtown Marathon supporters) had it written on her shirt, I have it engraved on my RoadID bracelet, and a close friend had the phrase printed on a sweatshirt for my birthday last year.
It takes great courage to undertake great distances on the road and trails, but it does take faith to finish these endeavors.  Often, faith is misconstrued as belief in one's own abilities, but Hebrews 11:1 outlines it by stating, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."  In this context, it has a much deeper meaning than just belief in self.  As human beings, we can only accomplish so much because we are flawed.  But by having faith, we are harnessing the power of the Holy Spirit within us.  We are confident in our hopes to accomplish the impossible because we have the reassurance of the Holy Spirit within us, which we can not see physically.  For all the skeptics, turn to 1 Corinthians 6:19, which says, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;"  
Once accepting Jesus as your Savior, one can recruit the help of the Holy Spirit through prayer by having faith in His assistance.  Whenever one is struggling during a race, just call on God and He will lighten your load and help you finish if you truly believe.  With His help, anything is possible if you have faith and don't rely on your own abilities.