‘Do hard things’: Pastor Mark Lehman takes on 60K for his 60th birthday in bid to help others

MANSFIELD — Mark Lehman could celebrate his 60th birthday with a party.

But he has another kind of celebration in mind: 37.3 miles on foot and a chance to help send students to camp.

Lehman, pastor of M1 Church, will leave the church Sunday at 2 a.m. and run 60 kilometers through Mansfield in an effort to raise $30,000 for the church’s Camp Scholarship Fund.

The 60k, which equals 37.3 miles, will follow mostly the B&O Trail and should take about nine hours.

Lehman expects to finish the run back at M1 Church around noon as the worship service ends at the 1000 McPherson St. facility.

_{Lehman uses 60th birthday to give back}

The idea of giving away his birthday started for Lehman in his 40s, when he heard about someone using their birthday to raise money for a good cause.

“That idea never left me,” Lehman said.

He gave it a try when he turned 50, raising $6,000 for two local charities in Southeast Kansas, where he lived at the time. Five years later, he raised $27,000 when he turned 55, with the money going toward sending students to camp.

Just because I didn’t have it, doesn’t mean I can’t offer it to others.

Mark lehman

Lehman said the church has invested all of that $27,000 into students over the past five years.

“We now have people that are supporting this fundraiser that were helped by it five years ago,” he said.

More than 55 students attended camp this past year through the fundraising effort, he said.

_{Lowering the barrier to attend camp}

Lehman did not grow up attending church or church camp, but his wife did.

She grew up going to church and had what Lehman described as “amazing, powerful experiences with God at church camp” as a child. Lehman said their son also had amazing, powerful opportunities at camp.

“Just because I didn’t have it, doesn’t mean I can’t offer it to others,” Lehman said.

For Lehman, helping students attend camp offers a way to invest in people who may one day have an impact of their own.

“We believe at our church that we’re not training up replacements, we’re training up reinforcements,” he said. “And we want to invest in reinforcements.”

He added one of the students may become the next pastor of the church, and he wants his investment to have an impact beyond his own lifetime.

“Investing in people that are seven or 17, that’s one way to do something that outlasts you,” he said.

_{Preparing for a 60K through Mansfield}

Lehman relies on a run-walk-run method when running distances like 37.3 miles. He said he runs for four minutes, walks for one minute and repeats the pattern.

He has run about a marathon a year for roughly 10 years, but his longest training run is about 20 miles.

“After that, it’s just torture,” Lehman said. “It’s just beating your body and the body needs time to recover from that.”

When asked if he were to carry a sign with him while running, Lehman said the message would be simple: “Do hard things.”

“It’s not too late,” he said. “At least try hard things. At least try them.”

As of Thursday morning, Lehman said the fundraiser had raised about $13,700, or roughly 45 percent of the $30,000 goal.

He said he does not know whether the fundraiser will reach its goal, but some donations usually come in after the run.

The fundraisers remain some of the best days of his life. Lehman said he shared that sentiment with his congregation Sunday, reflecting on some of the best days of his life, including his wedding day and salvation day.

“But doing the 55K was one of the best days of my entire life,” Lehman said. “Responding to the whisper of God and seeing it come to pass.”