I'm Christian in the "don't go to church, but if someone put a gun to my head and asked, I'd say yes I'm Christian" sort of way. Try to be a good person. Nice to strangers.
I go to a Catholic university and constantly hear from people inside and outside this environment that I'm lucky to be gifted (by God or fate or whatever they think) at running, and I have a lot of problems with this rather annoying and cheesy line of thought.
1. I don't run for God. Never claimed to. I also don't run for personal glory. I run because I really, really like racing and the atmosphere is awesome on a cc/track team.
2.God is not directly involved in the outcome of a race. I can't pray .01 seconds off my time. The track is just as long for the kids with cross necklaces.
3. You can walk, therefore you were given the same gift as me. Just because you don't choose to use it like I do (and that's not a bad thing) doesn't mean I was given something you weren't. It's not a cake walk to run 1:55 800s, I worked for that. Which brings me to my next point.
4. Relatively speaking, I'm not that "gifted" if "gifted" means talented. I'm injury prone, and far slower than MANY of my peers. Am I slower or faster than the kids with the same levels of talent? I have no way of knowing.
5. Cosmically it doesn't matter if I'm slow or fast. Does it please God more to run a 1:54 than a 1:55? I really hope not. Running is a-religous. No one's God demands a conference title in the mile. Race results are irrelevant to God.