I stopped running and discovered space for my faith

Tori Wells ran so often that it became part of her identity, until an injury forced her to slow down and helped her to deepen her faith.

I’ve worn the label of “Duracell Bunny” as a badge of honour for almost two decades. At a meeting to re-enter school at 17, following a failed gap year trying to make it as an Olympic runner, my dad said to the headmistress: “Just exhaust her and she’ll be OK.” He knows, and others see, that I operate on the further reaches of the energetic scales, and I’ve enjoyed that identity status. At a previous church I was known as “running Tori” – mostly to differentiate between the three Victorias who attended – and I loved the strength of this affiliation to a hyper level of energy.

But then, when our own strength becomes the narrative, God has a way of reminding us that he is the only affiliation we need. For the past couple of months I have been forced to fast from sport on account of a persistent injury. I have admitted in the past that the worst version of me is the injured version, but something different happened this time. Stopping running restarted my faith. I found I had access to a treasure only the slow moments with God reveal.