Run the North Documentary coming

Run the North Documentary showing Feb 24, 25, 2017

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Join us in our First Nation camp 2017

Join us for the 2017 Polar Bear Marathon

Ou Garden Flowers 2015

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RUNNING – BRAVE!

In the TRUE NORTH STRONG AND FREE

The Polar Bear Marathon – a running challenge for any class of runner.

November 22, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. 14 runners gathered in front of Gypsy’s Café in Churchill, Manitoba. After a prayer and ‘Oh Canada’ the bundled-up-multi-layered runners were off into the east – watching the fiery red sun slowly climb up from the distant horizon. I had planned to run the HALF, however opted to support and crew a few struggling runners instead.  By 8:30 the runners were silhouetted in the big red rising sun for a short and cold Saturday.

This was the third Polar Bear Marathon in Churchill.  Five runners decided to attempt the Ultra Marathon of 50 km in the minus 26⁰ Celsius temperature with fairly strong winds. The route was simple – not too many choices to run this kind of distance in Churchill. Running along a paved road of about 6.5 km to the airport turnoff, where the road (fairly wide) turns into a gravel, icy road. It meanders gently to the right, then a bit up, and down – following the coastline of the Hudson Bay. What a gorgeous view of the rough ice on the Hudson Bay. Many small and big snow covered rocks (big enough for a Polar Bear to hide behind) were the sights on both sides of the road. In addition there were many small evergreen trees – very one sided – only branches on the south side. The ‘True North Strong’ arctic winds have stripped the trees on one side, so they look like my running friend from San Diego calls them, Charlie Brown trees. My wife says the trees could be Christmas trees for half price, plus put them into the corner in your living room for Christmas.

Coming back to running – each runner was assigned to a vehicle escorting them with the energy food, drink and fruit, as well as a bear watcher with a gun, to protect the runners from Polar Bears. The road was very icy and slick; in fact one runner used running shoes with spikes. There was a bear only about 400 meters from us. There were 5 other bears still lingering around the coast on Cape Churchill near the town. The five Ultra runners were heading for the Study Centre one way (turn around point of 23.5 km) and then back to Churchill. In the town Churchill these runners had to make two larger laps of 3 km around the blocks to complete the 50 km. Four of the five ultra-runners finished with “mild” frost bite on their faces. Mild is relative in this case, because each one of them was more proud of their frost injuries than the medal. They all had shiny faces – layered with ointment as they boarded the plane.

 
 

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A Summer / Fall farewell to our 2014 flowers. Edna and I both have been influenced by all the flowers we had around us when we lived in Hammerstein, Germany many years - hence the flowers in our yard every summer. We do not have a cabin at the “lake” so we plant flowers in the summertime to enjoy the flowers when we are at home. Summer is the busiest time of our work, however we take time to plant flowers to relax and watch them grow, even though we both agree we don’t have a “green thumb” at all. A little bit of water and they grow on their own. Enjoy the flower show before the snow flies. Albert

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Recently Edna and I were in Brazil to see the Bird Park at the Iguazu Falls. If you are ever in this area – this is a “must” to see. We recall the beautiful colours of Brazil, especially the Falls and the Bird Park. This area has become flooded, in fact the walkway is totally damaged and closed now due to the high waters of the Paraguay River.
June, 2014

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Run with Hope – Paraguay - May 2014

INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE

Three years ago I was asked whether I would be willing to run across the country of Paraguay with the Organization JESUS RESPONDE .  After that initial query, where I had consented, nothing happened.  So, I assumed  it was “OFF”. 

Then, in January there was more ‘talk’ about this run between AIA and JESUS RESPONDE.  In February the director of JESUS RESPONDE was in Steinbach for some church ministry, and while he was here I organized a meeting with him and some key people for an information evening. Walter went back to Paraguay to encourage his team to get ready – ‘the runners are coming’.  In a little over three months, JESUS RESPONDE organized a fantastic running ministry event in Paraguay. The name Run with Hope was given appropriately with the purpose of giving help and hope to the children and youth in Paraguay.  I had said yes to running – targeting 300 km in 2 weeks.

 The purpose of this run was to raise funds and awareness of the need for Nutrition Stations – helping and feeding needy children of Paraguay.  

“ Transforming Paraguay together it is an NGO that is assisting about 20,000 children and preteens, in more than 400 children's canteens, which do not receive State aid and is dedicated to the Organization of the "Run for Hope", with the Canadian ultramaratonista Albert Martens, internationally recognised for its long distance runs.

Martens and a team of national and international runners will run between 10 and 25 May stretch incarnation-assumption with the aim of increasing awareness of the socio-economic plight of many Paraguayans, help the 400 existing children's canteens and help raise funds for 100 more dining rooms, who will attend to 5,000 children in poverty.”

Many Nutrition Stations have been established by JESUS RESPONDE in cooperation with churches providing a holistic approach to helping these needy children.  About 75% of Paraguayan population is under the age of 35. There are various reasons that create this need – often fathers may be in prison, leaving only the mothers to take care of the children. The Nutrition Stations will help with dental work, food, education and teaching, and sports.

The Run with Hope began in Encarnacion combined with a bigger outdoor public ministry event by JESUS RESPONDE.  About 30 runners started with me in Encarnacion for a 5 km run. Each day had a “RUN-IN” event in the city (3 km) with other community runners joining me.  Each day we moved ahead along Highway 1, 20-25 km closer to Asuncion.  We had 20-50 youth and children run 3 km each day at  3:30 p.m. ending up in a park or city square for my story telling time.

The official Run with Hope runners were Cooper Davies (Calgary), Jon Cooper (Calgary), Horst (Holly) Bergen (Asuncion) and Yours Truly from Steinbach, MB. We were escorted each day with usually 2 police cars, a Jesus Responde vehicle, a crew vehicle, an ambulance with two paramedics, and occasionally with a fire truck. The distances run were about 20-22 km per day.

PHYSICAL

We all had our physical challenges as we targeted 300 km in 2 weeks. The running was complicated and challenging due to the cultural differences, languages, as well as all the public and media attention.  The weather was primarily hot (30+) with high humidity each day.   The body did not function as well as I had hoped for. The food in the restaurants was challenging. I had basically chicken Schnitzel and Spaghetti with sauce only. One night I ate a cheesy pizza that did not sit well with me, so I encountered lots of chest and stomach pain the next running day.  My new shoes were not completely run-in. I used them because of better cushioning, however they create a big blister under a callous on my foot, which then got infected. – not good.

Highway No. 1 – from Encarnacion to Asuncion (ca 375 km) is two way traffic with lots of speeding trucks and tour buses.  We were told by the police that it is a dangerous highway to run. So we stayed on the far right shoulder running between the crew vehicle and the ambulance – going with the traffic.  The speeding buses often did not respect the flashing police cars, never slowing down for us.  On several occasion we met up with de-composing dogs on the shoulder of the highway – giving off a most horrible stench.  Three times the paramedics checked my pulse, blood pressure and oxygen levels, and each time they told me, “It is better than mine”.

EMOTIONAL

This was pretty much the most challenging ministry run in my life.  This was mostly due to all the media and public attention, the many speeches and interviews, the foreign languages (Spanish and Guaraney) and the fact that there were many runners to look after.  Every day I was interviewed either by a Christian TV, the National SNT TV, the Tigot Sports TV, radio, newspapers, etc. I gave testimonies of my faith, told many stories to the children and young people, reported in schools, gave reports to police, sports and school directors, as well as pastors.  Many youth and children came to me, wanting pictures taken of them with me. Two schools got together to hear 2 Paraguayan professional soccer players – (Ivan Torres – Ist Div. League), Julio Gonzalez (played in Italy 1^st Div. Player in the past) and myself.

I told stories about my Germany run, about the German police helping me when I got lost, about the Sahara Desert, about Scorpions, about Polar Bears, etc.        

I had not known beforehand that I would be giving so many reports.  I must have been interviewed, told stories, reports and given my personal faith testimonies for the 3 weeks – possibly 60 – 70 or more times. I found it tough to share with these cute and lovely children that surrounded me every day.  They came, often patiently waiting for me to come and tell them some stories. Some sat right next to me and some even on my lap.  They listened attentively, watching all my actions and expressions. Even though I could not speak Spanish – God communicated.  Anja translated all my talks.  This did add a huge emotional strain to my running, but then this was good, because this was the main and deeper purpose of the Run with Hope.  It actually took priority over my running. The plight of the sweet kids often brought tears to my eyes, because it tugged on my heart.

MINISTRY:

Besides me sharing my faith in Jesus and telling stories, JESUS RESPONDE organized several bigger (4-5) community events along the running route. In one city several churches joined together to plan and do a public outreach event. These churches had never worked together like this before.  Schools were engaged in ministry events where a pastor showed me 350 signed cards of commitments by students.  Holding a child that is about 2 years old – which does not have a home to go to was heart wrenching for me.  Many times I struggled emotionally during the night, and riding in the van. I became very quiet – just thinking about these beautiful children, often without parents.  I saw some of the flooded slum areas where people lived.  I witnessed little children playing under a traffic light post in the middle of busy streets.

I told a story of a police officer in Germany helping me when I was injured some years back. The police came and helped me. Their motto was “My Friend and Helper” They did help me find my way and gave me water.   I shared this story with the Paraguayan children under an Unknown Soldier monument – telling this story with their Paraguay police present standing next to the children.  The police listened to my story intently. Anja translated it into Spanish. The children looked at the police next to them.  Then later Anja told me that the police wanted to talk to me. I thought, “Oh No! Now I am in trouble”. Then the senior police of the two spoke to me privately – thanking me for what I had said. You see in Paraguay – the police are often “the bad guys”, so they had not heard such good words about them in a long time, if ever. The police was very emotional as he spoke - near tears because my words in the presence of the children had touched his heart.          

Another time I asked the three escorting police at a pit-stop, whether I could take a photo of them.  They said yes. I did not realize until later I had put my arms around a policeman heavily armed with heavy duty machine gun at his side.

THE FINAL RUN-IN

The final 5 km run from the bus station to the Plaza Americas was well organized by the Asuncion Marathon Club President, Mr. Anival.   We were escorted by two ambulance, two police cars, a crew van, and 6 police motor bikes.  Two police motorbikes drove ahead to close off the side streets from any traffic interference.  We went fast, arriving at the finish where the band was playing. I held the hand of a handicapped wheel chair participant for the last 2 km.  At the finish I met our Canadian Honorary Consul Representative, Mr. Jaun Speratti Rosi. Even our Canadian Polar Bear Mascot (Billy Neufeld) showed up for the celebrations.    

MEDIA –‘MARKETING’

JESUS RESPONDE had done a great, huge job of setting up this ministry event. It had never been done before. Many people had heard of this running event. I went to a restaurant and a lady recognized me and wanted a picture of me and her.  News had spread far and wide via TV and radio.  I met with the mayor of Encarnacion, the National Sports Director (Victor Manuel Pecci Balart) of their country, and the President of the Asuncion Marathon club. The mayor of Encarnacion suggested that we run from Asuncion to Encarnacion next year for their 400^th  city anniversary. 

Anja translated so well and fast. She was a great support to me.  She was a great running crewing person and care giver. She ran out to the kids along the way to hand out colouring books.   We had 1000 colouring books with the gospel story of Jesus, and the Good Coach as God printed. We ran out of books and had another 1000 printed. 

The initial evaluation of this historic ministry run deemed it a great success. It was tough and it was hard, but very good and rewarding. 

Helping people and sharing my faith in Jesus is just so much deeper and sweeter than running many km along a busy road.  I’d do it again.

I sensed thousands of prayers from across the world being answered. The Lord guided my feet,

and I thought they said “RUN”.

   

   Albert Martens

   Athletes in Action

  

  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION – 2014 POLAR BEAR MARATHON- See Registration below:

Purpose

A winter-adventure-charity marathon in support of the Athletes in Action (AIA) work done in the Sayisi Dene First Nations community of Tadoule Lake – 250 km west of Churchill. AIA has done baseball camps in 3 remote First Nations communities. This work is based on volunteers and donations.

Runners

Limit of 40 runners

Costs $2500.00 which includes:

w Return flight Winnipeg to Churchill

w Lodging for 3 nights in Churchill

w Awards dinner, T-shirt and medal

Safety and Protection

Due to the harsh environment, e.g.the weather conditions at this time of the year, runners will be required to run in pairs. There is also a real

possibility of the presence of bear, wolves, etc, so that we will have vehicles accompanying each pair of runners. These vehicles will also serve as mobile aid stations.

Route

From the town of Churchill we will run along the coast of the Hudson’s Bay in the direction of the Study Centre, turning around at the

21 km mark (marathon) and at the Study Centre (25km) (Ultra Marathon).

Polar Bear Marathon Waiver - Consent:

I would like to take part in this Polar Bear Marathon in Churchill, Manitoba as a runner. I understand that this will require good physical health, and that the weather conditions may be extreme – extreme cold temperatures and wind-chill factors, &/or snow storms during the run. Thus I am aware (as an experienced Marathon runner) of the physical and emotional rigors and risks involved. I will not hold the organizer, Athletes in Action Canada or any other organization or person(s) liable for any personal loss, injury, disability, accident, damages, or death. I am aware this is an extreme marathon, aware of the risks, physical hardships, and dangers. I am a conditioned marathoner and in good health. I am aware of the risks of danger due to the frequent presence of animals like Polar Bears, wolves, etc in the community, and thus will not hold anyone liable in case of injury. I acknowledge that this is an adventure run, and that I am solely responsible for my personal health and safety. I also acknowledge full and sole responsibility for any liability claims, damages to property, and for my own medical expenses incurred on my behalf. Should I become injured, or sick during this event, I authorize the event organizer (Athletes in Action Canada) to secure medical assistance on my behalf at my expense. I further grant permission for the Athletes in Action to use and reproduce images, any audio &/or visual recordings of me for any legitimate purpose, including commercial sales and marketing purposes pertaining to this event. I also acknowledge and agree that I will not be remunerated for such use.

Signature

Date

Submit Registration form and fees to

Athletes in Action, cut and mail to:

Albert Martens

408-2nd Street

Steinbach, Manitoba

R5G0V5, Canada

Athletes in Action (AIA) Canada is a ministry division of Power to Change that focuses on the domain of sport. Sport is the one language that knows no boundaries and sees no distinctions. It unites cultures, transcends values and defies convention. AIA is committed to using the language of sport to communicate the most powerful message of all: God’s passionate love for his children as communicated through his Son, Jesus Christ. It’s a story that’s changed our lives, given us purpose and hope. In Canada our work is a variety of ministries such as the Pro Ministry - Chaplains to the CFL (Canadian Professional Football League), sports camps and tours abroad with soccer, basketball, volleyball, and hockey teams. It is mentoring, training and educating athletes, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Our home base is in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.

For more information see:

www.Athletesinaction.com

Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Called the polar bear capital of the world, Churchill is also known as Manitoba’s beluga whale watching hotspot and is a birder’s paradise. The approach of winter also makes Churchill one of the best places to experience the northern lights. October and November are the best months to see polar bears as they get prepared to move out on the newly formed ice in search of seals. Scientists from around the world have come to Churchill to study the northern lights in the active night sky – Churchill is one of the top three places on the planet to see the northern lights. Located on the edge of the Arctic, Churchill offers the feel of a frontier town with the amenities of an international tourist destination.

http://everythingchurchill.com