Racing for Daylight with Robert Garr

Torrential rain battered Noah’s ark for 40 days and nights before the sun finally broke through on day 41. After their delivery from Egypt, the Children of Israel trudged through wilderness for 40 years before a new generation of Israelites could enter the Promised Land in year 41. Goliath taunted the Israelite Army for 40 days before a humble shepherd boy named David vanquished him on day 41 with just his sling, a smooth stone, and unflinching faith. And after Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and nights, he resisted Satan’s temptations and the devil fled on day 41.

So 40 is a number that appears frequently in the Bible, often describing the duration of some prolonged struggle or hardship. But the number 41 is equally significant, representing the moment when endurance is rewarded and faith prevails.

Robert Garr had his own giant to slay in 2019, finally achieving sobriety after a decades-long struggle with alcohol. As Robert navigated the early days of recovery, his father was nearing the end of his own courageous battle, eventually succumbing to cancer in the fall of that year. Amid the dramatic circumstances of 2019, Robert found peace and stability in a certain number that kept popping up.

“I first discovered the significance of 41 through a devotional in the YouVersion Bible app, and I just kept seeing it everywhere – on clocks, street signs, 41 new emails,” Robert recalled. My dad passed away in October, and that number was prevalent in my life. The devotional was recent. Shortly after his passing, I was invited to someone’s house for an AA book study and the address was 41 Clermont, and I just thought ‘Right on. This is good stuff.’ Even though I was grieving, that number helped me through it.”

Robert continued to grow in his faith and recovery as the calendar flipped to 2020. He was starting to feel better physically as well, the result of a cleaner diet and sober lifestyle. An avid runner with numerous half and full marathon finishes under his belt, Robert was about to resume his running career with renewed purpose and strength.

Melissa Sharp and her F.R.O.G. Fitness Group has been putting on races and community outreach events in and around Pulaski County, MO for many years. F.R.O.G. stands for Fully Relying on God, which is how Robert came to participate in their first endurance run back in 2017.

“The town of Devils Elbow had been hit by a huge flood, and so we decided to do a six-hour ultra as a fundraising race for the flood victims of Devils Elbow,” Melissa recalled. “I don’t know how Robert heard about it, but he ended up being there, and we’ve been friends ever since.” Robert covered 22 miles with Melissa’s group that day as a means of preparing for the upcoming GO! St. Louis Marathon. He enjoyed the experience so much that he returned to Pulaski County the following year for the inaugural Racing for Daylight, another ultra hosted by Melissa and F.R.O.G. Fitness. He’s been back at least five times since, including in 2020 when he embarked upon a very specific and meaningful mission. As a way of inspiring the continued sobriety of a friend in recovery, and as a tribute to the triumphant and reassuring message of 41, Robert set out to run 41 miles at Racing for Daylight.

Coinciding with Daylight Savings time every March, Racing for Daylight begins at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday evening and goes until 7:00 Sunday morning, one hour being lost to clocks springing forward. Initially, Racing for Daylight was born out of Melissa’s own need for a long training run, but now it meets the needs of others throughout the running community and beyond.

“I had to do at least an eight-hour night run to get ready for this 100-miler coming up, and I remember telling the Lord that I really didn’t want to do this night run by myself,” Melissa explained. “God said, ‘Melissa, tell all your friends. Make it an outreach’ ” So I presented the idea to our sponsors from other races and they were happy to support it.”

Thanks to the generosity of those community partners, runners enjoy free access to indoor aid station facilities stocked with snacks and drinks. In fact, registration for the event is free, a remarkable value considering similar races are often priced at around $150. Participants are encouraged to make donations to the OneSolePurpose project, an initiative that provides a new pair of shoes to every student enrolled in Pulaski County Title 1 elementary schools.

So after a pre-race prayer and some words of encouragement from fellow runners, Robert’s personal quest for 41 began. He completed lap after lap around the Racing for Daylight course, thoughts of his father, his new friends in recovery, and his revitalized relationship with the Lord propelling him steadily forward. After nearly 14 trips around the three-mile loop, it was 2:00 a.m.

“I showed up that night just to prove that all things are possible with God,” Robert said. “I used that number to guide me and to remind me that, even though this is painful, and even though it is a struggle, I can do it with God’s help. After eight hours and a few minutes, I had hit my 41 miles.”

Robert has returned to participate in Racing for Daylight many times since 2020, including this year, but 41 miles continues to be his personal record for distance. His 2025 effort netted 35 miles, a successful outcome considering how little he trained leading up to the event. He accomplished this through strict adherence to a plan of running for 90 seconds and walking for 30. Other than a few quick stops at his vehicle to grab energy gels or a hoody, he continued moving for seven straight hours.

He attributed this latest ultra performance largely to the elimination of sugar from his diet. toeing the line at 170 pounds, Robert came in 40 pounds lighter than he had been just a year earlier. But at times, it seemed as though he had simply traded one addiction for another, having given up alcohol and all of its negative consequences for the weight gain and inflammation that comes with binging on candy and sugary treats. Burdened by chronic pain at 210 pounds and struggling to recover even from shorter runs, Robert decided to make a drastic change midway through 2024.

“I wanted to quit candy, so I started this sugar fast in May and I would track it and write about it every day, and I did very well through August. I got down to 183 pounds and I was feeling better mentally and physically,” Robert said. “Then, I got involved in a relationship in October and I was no longer alone in the evenings, which kept me from grabbing that bag of M&M’s or candy bar, kept me from going on those nightly visits to the convenience store.”

Another relationship has been a constant throughout Robert’s running career. He crosses paths with Melissa Sharp at pivotal points along their physical and spiritual journeys, once when Melissa was selling Team 413 T-shirts at the GO! St. Louis Marathon Expo. Team 413 is a faith-based running ministry rooted in the message of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Naturally, Robert bought the shirt, a race-day reminder to everyone that, even in the most difficult moments, we are not in it alone.

“I’m proud to wear that shirt every time I put it on. It’s always a conversation piece. It gives people confidence when they read it, and it gets me through the race,” Robert said. “It’s the perfect mantra to get me through 26.2 miles or whatever distance I happen to be doing. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”