“Being in the church, you spend a lot of days in your heart and in your head, and we say all the time, ‘We got to get out and move the body.’ For me, it is a spiritual practice.”
Rev. Laura Thompson
What possesses a group of United Methodist and Presbyterian pastors to embark on a 200-mile run across eastern North Carolina over 36 hours in the middle of November? What’s the appeal in being stuffed into a couple of vans, driving across eastern North Carolina, stopping at churches and other locations along the way, sleeping outside between runs, and dealing with wind and rain along the way?
“This is really a huge reason why we do this, is to feel part of something bigger, part of a team, running 200 miles, something I could never do on my own,” says Rev. Eric Prenshaw. They wholeheartedly embrace the opportunity to be outside, run and exercise, and spend time with friends and colleagues in ministry. “This is really a huge reason why we do this, is to feel part of something bigger, part of a team, running 200 miles, something I could never do on my own,” says Rev. Eric Prenshaw. They wholeheartedly embrace the opportunity to be outside, run and exercise, and spend time with friends and colleagues in ministry.
The 11 members of “Total Depravity Moving On to Perfection” (formerly Wesley’s Midnight Runners) gathered for all those reasons and more when they recently completed the 2022 installment of the Tuna Run, a relay race that starts in Raleigh and ends in Atlantic Beach. They joined over 1,000 runners from other teams for the annual event.
We met up with the team as the Run got underway and had the opportunity to hear from them about why this event is so important to them (and what that team name means). Watch our story in the video below.
Total Depravity Moving On to Perfection Team Members
Dustin Bannister, Adam Benson, Todd Davidson, Matt Drumheller, David Larkins, Jessie Larkins, Adam Ledbetter-Bock, Eric Prenshaw, Luke Schlimme, Jamie Thompson, and Laura Thompson.