800 meter hopeful has persevered through medical challenges to prove doubters wrong

After Christian Bedell was born, the doctors told his parents that he would always be behind physically because of two holes in his heart.

After training for nearly two years without breaking his personal best in the 800-meter, the uncertainty of whether to continue training or pursue a different passion weighed heavily on the sophomore runner.

The race would prove to be just another obstacle Bedell would have to surmount along the journey that he has been pursuing his whole life. 

“I thought (the Liberty Kickoff) was going to be my last race,” Bedell said. “I didn’t know what God had for me. … I contemplated, ‘God do you want me to keep running? Do you want me to keep chasing the time that I feel like I could never get?’”

Bedell was born with a cleft palate and an unfinished midline. His life was set further back when doctors noticed he had two holes in his heart — one in his atrial septal and another in his ventricular septal. 

“The result of (the birth defects) was definitely a very difficult childhood,” Bedell said. “It was a lot of stress on my parents at first, but I think they found a lot of peace just knowing that God was watching over me the whole time.”

Despite being told he would likely not be as physically active as some people because of his heart issues, Bedell defied the odds and began playing soccer at a young age. He enjoyed the athletic competition, but soccer was not his true passion.

Christian Bedell SHOOT — Bedell is a digital media student.

Bedell began running cross-country and eventually joined the track and field team while he was in high school. He eventually fell in love with the mid-distances and devoted himself to training for the 800.

“(The 800) is not an easy race, and I realize that, but I just love it so much,” Bedell said. “I’m not a 400-meter runner — I don’t have the strength and sprinting skills to be a 400-meter runner, and I never really enjoyed the mile. (The mile) was just four laps for me, whereas two laps were really something special.”

His passion for the 800 combined with his hardworking attitude helped Bedell to become a successful runner in his home state of Maine. He broke his personal best with a time of 2 minutes and three seconds during his senior season in high school, capping the year by finishing in fourth place at the state meet.

Bedell knew making the track and field team would not be easy, but his appreciation for Liberty University’s mission and his interest in the digital media program drew him to the school. 

“I wanted to make the track team if I could,” Bedell said. “But it was more about what school I could go to that would really accelerate my love for Christ and prepare me to be a leader and a champion.”

Upon arriving at Liberty, Bedell’s 800 time was not low enough to make the track and field team immediately, but he was committed to training to get the time down. 

During his freshman year in 2017, Bedell was introduced to a friend and mentor John Sherret. Sherret is a former 800 runner and current medical school student at Liberty. He was a friend and teammate of Corinn Bedell. 

“I’ve been somewhere where (Christian) wants to be, which is the track team,” Sherret said. “So, I am able to help him in that sense.”

Throughout the past two years, Bedell persistently followed a schedule of running six days a week. Liberty Associate Head Coach Andrew “Pete” McFadden gave him workout routines for training and noted that he regularly sees Bedell running at the indoor track when he arrives for work on weekdays.

Zach Infield | Photo Provided SPEED — Bedell hopes to break two minutes in the 800m race.

In spite of Bedell’s tireless training, his personal best in the 800 remained at 2:02.4. That is, until the Liberty Kickoff.

As Bedell stood pacing and waiting for the final heat of the men’s 800-meter, he thought about his game plan and mentally prepared to give everything he had out on the track.

“I knew that I wanted to go out hard,” Bedell said. “I wanted to do something that I had never done before and I wanted to give it my all more than I ever had. Not that I hadn’t given my all-in other races, but I thought, ‘this could be my last one.’”

As soon as the gun went off and the race began Bedell pushed ahead and took the lead, running times of 27 and 28 seconds in his first two laps. Bedell was making great time but lost a little bit of pace in the final
two laps.

He came around the final turn with one competitor on his hip. Bedell was tired from the opening push and had to grind out the final 100 meters. One racer passed him on the final straightaway, but Bedell sprinted across the finish line with a time of 2:01.33, breaking his personal best by more than
a second. 

“The feeling of finally breaking my time by a second after a whole two years of training was amazing,” Bedell said. “I was just thanking God for the opportunity to finally (break the time).”

For Bedell, the time of 2:01.33 is still not low enough to earn a spot on the team. He would need to be under 2:00 to do so, but he now had a renewed confidence in himself and his ability as a runner.

Even with the good feeling that came with breaking his personal best, Bedell ponders what would be the best direction for him going forward.

“If God doesn’t want me to bring glory to him in this way then I don’t want to do track,” Bedell said. “I am honestly at a point where I love track and I love running and I love training, but if it’s not bringing glory to God in the fullest amount then I don’t want to be a part of it. I want to do something that (God) wants me to do.”

Whether Bedell decides to keep running or not, the perseverance and consistency he continues to show in his life are traits that have allowed him to be inspiration to others.

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