How the SRLA team spent their Saturday before the marathon
Saturday Morning, the SRLA Team went to the Convention Center to get their equipment. They were given a shirt, bag and a bib. They were also allowed to go to the other exhibitions.
The head coach, Thomas Lo, 35, organized the whole trip. He too also came to prepare for the race. Lo has been involved with SRLA for about six years. His thoughts on this year’s race was, “The weather was nice, but the week earlier it was raining so we couldn’t practice. ” He is very proud of his students because “They are always participating in something that is very hard.” Lo also said, “My favorite exhibit was the one where they massage your legs.”
The SRLA team arrived at Convention Center 8:56 AM. They lined up and waited to get their bibs. They entered the inside of the center right after. The team then took a group picture, before getting their equipment and scattering.
The Convention Center was filled with charities and exhibits that the team can enjoy. They were free to enjoy them until 10:45. A group of three friends, Natasha Cuevas, Reyna Manriquez, and Stephanie Jaramillo were going around trying to spin every wheel to win as many prizes as possible. The first wheel we saw them participate in was at BIG 5. BIG 5 is a sporting goods retailer and it is also where some SRLA runners could buy their running gear.
Natasha Cuevas, who has been in SRLA for two years, said, “My favorite part of the Expo was a wall where students got to write what they were running for and I liked it a lot because I got to see what other people run for.” While at the Expo Center Natasha said she received many free items among the items she received were a frisbee sponsored by Capital One bank, a bag filled with running gear, and Quench Gum.
Diego Aquino, 12, said, “I really had fun at the Expo because there was a ton of fun and cool exhibitions.” This was his first year in SRLA so it is his first time attending a Marathon Expo as well. He claimed his favorite exhibition was an exhibition where they got Icy-Hot to relieve the pain during the marathon. He said some of the things he obtained at the Expo was his shirt, a bag with gear for the marathon, and the Icy-Hot.
At around 10:45 the SRLA team met up at the exit and took a group photo with all the coaches and everything that they got. Shortly after, the SRLA team walked to California Pizza Kitchen which is a casual dining restaurant where the team ordered pizza, salad, spaghetti, and bread. The team ate at the diner for about an hour.
Time passed and some of the SRLA students decided that they wanted Starbucks, so the coaches waited outside while the students went inside to order. After all the students had gotten their drinks, we waited outside for a little bit. While we waited the coaches passed out letters to the SRLA students written by their teachers hoping to encourage them and to wish them the best of luck on the marathon. While still outside of the Starbucks, the SRLA coaches thanked everybody by giving away awards. The awards that were given out were silly but meaningful to the team because it made them laugh and made them think about all the good moments they have had in SRLA. An hour later the SRLA team met at the train station and made preparations to go home. At the final meeting in the front of the school, Lo told the SRLA students to set up an alarm and sleep at 7:00 PM.
