It was a warm day in late April 2025 when Nick Morgan laced up his Puma Nitros. Approaching the starting area, he was surrounded by nearly 30,000 other runners who had earned a coveted spot in the Boston Marathon. Three hours and 17 minutes after the starting gun fired, he crossed the finish line, placing a respectable 9,422nd place.
Recently, Morgan hit the ground running again, this time in his new role as the association missional strategist of the Mid-State Baptist Association.
In addition to family and ministry work, Nick is a runner and helps coach a track team part-time. He tries to incorporate running into his ministry.
F3 (Fitness, fellowship and faith)
Morgan is active with a grassroots ministry called “F3.” He explained, “F3 stands for fitness, fellowship and faith. The goal of F3 is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men to reinvigorate Christian male leadership.” It serves as a Christian men’s accountability group for physical and spiritual well-being.
He meets with a group of guys three or four mornings a week at a parking lot or some other agreed-upon location to run at 5:15 a.m.
Usually, Morgan noted, it begins with two or three guys creating a group in an area. Macon has about 25 different places where groups meet to exercise, run or walk.
“I’ve seen whole trajectories change for guys to get out of certain addictions. It’s incredible,” he noted.
The organization is international, and Morgan explained that when he travels, he finds a local F3 group to exercise and fellowship with while on the road.
One of Morgan’s goals is to begin meeting with some of the pastors of the association to begin exercising.
Humble lessons
Morgan noted he has been humbled by the fact that running the Boston Marathon in 2025 has opened doors to share the gospel with a number of people.
He said the takeaways from the marathon include: “Life gets tough, make sure you have people who believe in you, and are ready to encourage you.” That insight will undoubtedly be applied to the pastors, staff and churches of the Mid-State Baptist Association.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Charles Jones and originally published by the Christian Index.
