LIFE Runners grows in archdiocese

An organization that shares the message “Remember the Unborn – Jer. 1-5” on T-shirts as they participate in marathons and other running events is growing more quickly in the Omaha archdiocese than anywhere else in the country, said its founder, Pat Castle, a member of St. Columbkille Parish in Papillion.

Castle founded LIFE Runners in 2008 while living in Colorado Springs, Colo. He and his family moved last summer to the Omaha area, where 30 people belonged to LIFE Runners.

About 16 months later, 900 adults and children in six city and 10 school chapters across the archdiocese are LIFE Runners. That’s 10 percent of the 9,000 members around the country and overseas, and the most chapters of any diocese in the nation, Castle said.

“God wanted it so,” Castle said of people signing up to be LIFE Runners, some as walkers, some as runners, some just to show support by wearing a T-shirt and adding their prayers. Castle, who also is a member of St. Matthew the Evangelist Parish in Bellevue, is instrumental in helping make it happen. He has spoken 24 times in the archdiocese, on radio, at parishes and schools, to youth groups and Knights of Columbus councils. 

LIFE Runners also recently formed a chapter of Sidewalk Advocates for Life, ministering at the abortion clinic in Bellevue and elsewhere, Castle said.

To sign up or learn more about LIFE Runners, go online to liferunners.org.