Hall of Fame to Notre Dame Part 1

Last week I wrote that I was feeling weak and that I was a bit worried about how I would do at the race on Saturday. In the end I determined that God would provide all I needed and the Bible even says He will work through our weaknesses. Well, He did not disappoint on Saturday!

It all began as I entered into South Bend on Friday night and checked into my hotel; I made my way to pick up my packet in downtown South Bend. Once I got my packet I headed back to the hotel and got on my running clothes and headed out to Notre Dame to take a 2 mile run to loosen up. I went to the stadium and ran around the athletic facilities. I went around Moose Krause Circle and simulated what the ending would be like. What a cool place to explore!

Right next to the stadium is the Joyce Center where the basketball team plays, then across the street from there is the holy grail of college football. Prior to 1930 when Notre Dame Stadium was built, Cartier Field was the stadium that Notre Dame played in. This is now part of their practice facility, but when running around this area you cannot help but think of the greats like the 4 horsemen, Gipp (The Gipper), and Knute Rockne. In the 23 years this field was open, the Irish never lost a home game.



Just running around the stadium itself was an incredible experience. As you run counter clockwise from the south side of the stadium, one of the first statues you run into is one of Ara Parseghian on the shoulders of his players. Ara was born in Akron, Ohio and was head coach of the Irish from 1964-1974. His teams compiled 95 victories, 17 losses, and 4 ties. Along with this, his teams won 2 national championships. As you keep running north you see a wall on the concourse inside the gate. This wall is filled with helmets and plaques for Consensus All Americans.
As you turn the corner of the stadium, you look up to the right and you see Touchdown Jesus! What an amazing site to see a mosaic of Jesus with his hands up as if to say come one, come all to me and I will provide! It was named Touchdown Jesus because it looks as if He is signaling touchdown and can clearly be seen from inside the stadium when looking north.

Then as you turn to the left, you see the tunnel to the field and of course a Knute Rockne Statue. As you look down the tunnel you can see the north end zone and goal post. What a place to see the Knute Rockne statue. Next to crosses and Jesus himself, Knute Rockne’s memory is the next most preserved on campus. Knute Rockne, of course, is the famed head coach of Notre Dame from 1918 to 1930 where his teams had 105 victories, 12 losses, 5 ties, and 5 national championships, including 5 undefeated seasons without even a tie.

Turning the corner and heading back south you run with the campus to your west and you can see the beauty of the campus. They keep this place immaculate. Soon you come to another staute, one with which you would be very familiar if you are from the Kent State area. It is a statue of Lou Holtz. Holtz is a Kent State University graduate and the Irish coach from 1986 to 1993. He is noted with having the players' names taken off their jerseys to emphasize the team part of the game. His teams had 64 victories, 9 losses, and 1 tie with 1 national championship.

Turning east on Moose Krause, you head back toward the south end of the stadium where you run into the last statue around the stadium. It is of Frank Leahy a player who, next to Rockne, was probably the most notable coach of Notre Dame. His teams are thought to have been the most successful of Irish history. His teams had 6 undeafeated seasons, 4 national championships and were unbeaten in 39 games. As you look into the concourse at this point you see that they have banners of their national championship team coaches.

When I was done running, I walked the campus a bit and admired the beauty and reverence they had to God. What a place to run and reflect on all God has done! After this, I headed out for a pasta dinner and then settled into the hotel for the night, knowing the next day would be awesome and I could not wait to hear the chanting and the crowd when I reached Notre Dame Stadium in the morning.