Chloe Contarino contemplated the seemingly Herculean task ahead of her. On Sunday, she will attempt to run 26.2 miles. A marathon.

She remembered the pain of her 18-mile training run a few weeks ago, and wondered how in the world she could make it through the extra 8.2 miles. She thought about the aches, the soreness, and about the dreaded condition distance runners call “hitting the wall.”

Just for a second, she had doubts.

Chloe with her sister Elena, who was adopted from China“What was I thinking?” she thought.

And then she remembered. She was thinking about the abandoned or orphaned children living on the streets of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. She was thinking about Jorge and Carmen Zavala, who operate a home called Hogar de Zion that provides food, shelter, and love for forgotten boys and girls.

Second thoughts and doubts quickly vanished.

“The orphans, the caretakers—they are Heaven’s treasures,” she said. “It’s a privilege to be able to serve them in this little way.”

Chloe, 21, is running for Team Samaritan's Purse, a group of people who compete in athletic events to help needy people across the world. They use events such as marathons and triathlons to raise funds for Samaritan's Purse programs they care deeply about.

Chloe is running the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Sunday to raise money for Hogar de Zion, an orphanage supported by Samaritan's Purse. She knows that God directed her to both the event and the cause.

She was looking at the website one day and came upon the link to Team Samaritan's Purse.

“I was ecstatic to see such an awesome way to bless the ministry!” she said. “I knew right away that if I ever were to run a marathon, this would be the only way I would finish. I talked to my husband about it and prayed about it and haven't looked back since.”

Although it sounded like a great idea, running 26.2 miles was a daunting undertaking.

“To me, people who ran marathons were celebrities,” she said. “Anyone who could run 26.2 miles and live to tell about it deserved to be famous. I had some lung issues, and for a while I couldn't run a mile without feeling like they would collapse on me. I had actually tried to work on my long distance before in hopes of running a marathon, but I failed many times. The only reason I've been able to do so now is because it wasn't for my own gain, and consequently God provided me with the ability and strength I needed to serve Him in this way.”

God was giving her the strength. Next, she turned to Him for the reason.

“I asked God to reveal to me the cause for which I should run,” she said. “I came across an article about Hogar de Zion and immediately felt a tug on my heart. My mother was born in El Salvador, so Central America is a special place for me. In addition, I've always felt burdened for the children of Third World countries and inner cities, especially orphans. My own dear little sister Elena was just brought home from a China orphanage in January.

“I have also always had this dream of just taking in orphans from every corner of the world and giving them loving arms and a warm home, and the fact that the Zavalas are doing that right now is fantastic. So with the combination of Central America being close to home for me, as well as my desire to provide for the orphans of the world in whatever small way I can, it seemed like God had singled Hogar de Zion out as the ministry that could best benefit from the ‘fruits of my labor’.”

Yes, running 26.2 miles will be tough. But she’s ready.

“I will probably never meet the people I’m running for,” she said. “They will never know the tears, the victories, the defeats, the pain, the exhilaration. And I in turn, will never know their hardship, loneliness, hunger, desperation, pain. But I will forever be united with them.

“It's won't be easy, and I will probably cry, but it will be worth it. Pray for me?”

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