Bagels and hearts

Join us for the Launch Party!

April 25, 2026 - 11AM to 1PM
Come when you can. Leave When You Must.

Thought Design, Rockford, MI
We will be running a finish-line theme with a bagel table. Books will be available for purchase: $16 (includes tax) Cash or Check.

Running Bagels Cupcakes and Hearts

The 12th Mile

by Louise Ann Gibson

When life takes a hard turn and keeps getting harder, where do you find the endurance to keep going? The 12th Mile invites readers into one mother’s raw and hope-filled journey through her daughter’s relentless battle with mental illness—and how God used the unexpected gift of running to reveal His presence, resilience, and care in the middle of the “harder still".

Let's Run Together

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Louise Ann Photo Collage
Louise Ann Gibson

Embracing Hope in the Harder Still

Look up. Take your next step. Life is a marathon. The hardest miles can make us believe we are running alone. We are not. And seasons of deepest struggle can be ones of profound growth. It is in embracing these moments that we find a hard-won hope! My story — my family’s story — testifies to this truth. The 12th Mile: When Hard Becomes Harder Still is our journey… Releasing April 2026.

Louise Ann Gibson Photo Collage
Louise Ann Gibson
Louise Gibson

About Louise Ann Gibson

Louise Ann Gibson is a passionate storyteller, caregiver, and runner who has spent nearly fifteen years walking alongside her daughter through chronic illness while navigating her own epilepsy diagnosis. With humor, honesty, and faith, she shares how God uses unexpected tools—like running shoes—to equip us for life’s hardest miles. Louise Ann has taught, spoken, and served in schools, churches, support groups, and military bases. She lives in Michigan and loves encouraging weary hearts to persevere.

Let's Run Together

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About The 12th Mile

When life takes a hard turn and keeps getting harder, how do you keep going? In The 12th Mile: When Hard Becomes Harder Still, I share my personal journey of parenting a child through chronic mental illness while navigating an unexpected health struggle of my own. Through the surprising lens of running, I uncover the power of thoughts, the beauty in resilience, and the hard work of perseverance. I pray that I have communicated our family’s story with humor, honesty, and hope. May the road we have traveled encourage weary parents, caregivers, and anyone facing relentless challenges to take the next step, trust God’s timing, and find strength to endure their own “12th mile.”

The 12th Mile - When hard become harder still by Louise Ann Gibson

Devotions

Success - Failure

The Potential in Failure

Dear 12th Mile community… Louise wants the A+. It is a joke in the Gibson house. Truthfully, though, there has been more fact than fiction in that statement! Running corrected my attitude! I was introduced to my beautiful sport in 2010. By 2013, it had become a passionate hobby. My focus was on building strength…
a dog lying on the grass

Humility and Gentleness

It’s Spring! Good Morning 12th Mile Community… The end of Sweater-Weather is in sight!  T-shirts will soon take center stage, and this is definitely the way my husband rolls! For him, life is best lived in a t-shirt! Casual. Relaxed. Even faded. He especially loves wearing shirts commemorating past adventures, even if they happened years…
food, chocolate, smore, campfire, delicious, snack, roasted, crackers, marshmallow, sugar, graham, crispy, sweet, treat, yummy, melted, toasted, fluffy, smores, sticky, white, gooey, smore, smores, smores, smores, smores, smores

Marshmallows

Dear 12th Mile Runners:       I love S’mores! I especially love the Hallenbeck S’more! My friend Chris created it! He doesn’t like marshmallows! So, he replaces marshmallows with the fantastic substitution of peanut butter! I love them this way,…but! For me, marshmallows have to be part of the assembly of the perfect S’more! So,…