This was my first year participating in SRLA. I have experienced running from one mile up to eighteen miles. All the races have been a great and fun experience. Practicing before every race with the team running to different places has also affected me by meeting and interacting with new people, and I have learned many running techniques.  I  overcame a lot of obstacles along the way during practices and races while preparing for the LA Marathon.  With the day finally coming up to run 26.2 miles, I felt super nervous but excited.

 I had never ran that much so it was a new experience for me. There was a big difference between the marathon and the other races. I seriously thought I was not going to get that tired. I was running through mile 18, and I started feeling frustrated. Running in the sun had a big impact on me because the heat bothered me and I couldn’t concentrate well. While I was running, I started feeling pain and the thing I kept on thinking of was the number of miles I had done.

      When I was running I felt  like stopping and giving up but with the support of people I didn’t even know, I kept on running. I even got to meet someone from another school. I noticed that even while running you can interact with new people that help support you. Having a partner by my side really helped me keep on going and work together. I also enjoyed seeing people running with costumes it made it seem fun. There were people running as Elvis, Mario, Ghost, Minnie Mouse, and much more.

 

While I was running I just kept on waiting for the water stations to come.  I loved this day and really want to keep on running. I will say to never give up because either you or even other people you don’t know will push you and you will eventually achieve your goal.

This was the Best Day of My Life because I got to experience running 26.2 miles even though it was super tiring and almost killed me, but also because I met another SRLA runner, Andrew, along the way that helped me achieve my goal.  Even though we barely met each other, I felt super happy and we became great friends, running together and sharing things about our life!!

 

 I will never forget this moment when I ran my first marathon. This has inspired me to keep on running for the rest of my life!! I also accomplished one of my hopes which was to inspire others to stay active and run. I will continue practicing and participating  in future events.

I would like to thank Andrew for keeping me company and making my first marathon a GREAT experience!! I also want to thank the coaches for all their support and for training me to become a better runner and achieve in life!! Thanks to my team members for being there for me through tough times and supporting me. I will consider my team and coaches as my family because we have gone through funny, sad, exciting, and a lot of emotional moments together.

I have learned many new things by joining SRLA. I know that I will no matter what I will join SRLA for next year!! I realized that good things come to those who work their butt off and never give up!! The most important thing I learned is that you have to stay motivated because LIFE will  try to beat you up a lot and you have to be PROUD of each and every challenge you came through because the physical and emotional SCARS of those challenge are MEDALS of BRAVERY of NEVER GIVING UP!!!!!