Background info
Students Run Los Angeles (SRLA) is a running program that trains students for nearly seven months to prepare for the LA Marathon. A marathon is a long distance footrace of 26.2 miles. Originating from the Greek legend of Pheidippides, it is an important endurance event in the Olympics and major city races worldwide. This race is a long distance run that challenges the person’s body mentally and physically.
Mr. Finer’s part
Before the marathon
Many people felt anxious or scared about the mileage of the marathon because of how long it the race was. “You’ve been running for a long time, when you get there it’s hard in your mind to think about doing all 26 miles,” said Secondary Leader Carl Finer.
During the marathon
The beautiful course and the people around you can really help you push yourself to complete the marathon and just overall help you enjoy it throughout your hard time out there.
Mr. Finer said, “I really enjoyed just being on the course, seeing other friends and people I know from the running community. There were at least a dozen times during the race when somebody caught up to me that I recognized and knew, and it was nice just to have people there to support each other.”
Also the heat (about 88 degrees) from the marathon was a hardship for many people running and challenged them mentally and physically.
Mr. Finer said, “The toughest part was just coming into race day, knowing how hot it was going to be… My strategy from the beginning was to run a little bit slower than I planned and to stop at every single water station and walk through it, to get some water and dump some on my head or on my neck. And that’s not usually the strategy I use but it worked.”
Towards the end of the marathon
Towards the end of the marathon the heat caught up to lots of people finishing the marathon. Something that didn’t help with the heat was that the last stretch of the marathon was an uphill climb to finish.
Mr. Finer said, “There’s no shade in a lot of the later stretches of the course too. So, the toughest part was making sure I was prepared for that.”
Christian’s part
Throughout the SRLA training, you can learn many new things about yourself while also both mentally and physically preparing your body and mind for the LA Marathon.
SRLA student runner Christian Fuentes said, “I pushed myself and continued to go even if I was tired and especially during those Saturday and Sunday runs. I would get very tired and I would feel like I don’t want to wake up, but I would wake up and I think that’s the thing that I’ve learned about myself is committing to something that I love the most and that’s what I’ve learned.”
Running with people that you know or are friends may also help you with preparation and also running the marathon. You may also get much more support and also more memories with your friends.
Christian said, “The runs were actually very fun because of him [Mr. Finer], and I had someone to talk to, and it was honestly just the best experience.
