“Twenty-six point two miles. A long and horrible journey, but I lived to tell about it. This was the day I trained six months for. I loaded carbohydrates for three days — rice, grains, breads and other foods — and drank gallons of water. I had to do this because carbohydrates supply the body with energy, which I really needed, and water is essential because you lose a lot of water during the marathon so you have to drink a lot of water to make up for that. I had to get lots of sleep and rest to conserve as much energy as I could. I had to envision myself crossing the finish line and convince myself that no matter how much I wanted to quit I wouldn’t. By the time Sunday came, my sister, who was also doing the marathon, and I were both excited.
At 6:45 a.m. I arrived at the Wilshire Grand hotel with the rest of my team. Everything was hectic as everyone tried to check in and find their coaches. At 7 a.m., about 1,500 people running with Students Run L.A. were jammed into the ballroom for a group picture and motivational speech by Jackie Joyner Kersee.
8:30 a.m. We lined up at the starting line. The 15-minute wait seemed like an eternity because I was so anxious to begin. While waiting my team wished everyone the best of luck and told each other no matter what, finish. I was relieved when the shot finally rang. When we first started jogging, I was so excited it felt like I could jog forever. I learned otherwise. Part of my team and I started jogging with Gail Anderson, a reporter from Channel 5 News, who after previously interviewing some Students Run LA runners decided to take on the challenge and try to complete the marathon. As we jogged the first five miles alongside her, she asked us about our schools and how we got involved in running. After five miles, part of my team continued with Gail while the rest of us and I set our own pace.
I was hurting halfway through the marathon
Everything was going fine until about mile 17 when our feet began to hurt. We stopped to inspect them and found that there were blisters on the bottom of our feet. A concerned marathon runner told us there would be a medical station about a mile up. We were limping but we resumed our journey.
Contrary to what your math teacher will tell you, half of 26 is actually 18 in the marathon. This is because when you reach mile 18 you are tired and you begin to slow down, causing your time to increase and possibly even double. At mile 20 my feet were throbbing and I was thirsty. We noticed everyone had disappeared including the water and medical stops. We stopped again because our feet were hurting badly. A jogger saw that our feet were hurting and bandaged them with shock absorbers. As we limped to the finish line, our feet were still hurting but much less.
I noticed other joggers began to give up and one man actually went right into his house. I think the only reason I finished was the promise of a medal and my own desire to finish. At the end of mile 26 our parents cheered us on. I saw that my sister, who had finished earlier, had a medal around her neck and they had given out sweats.
When I crossed the finish line, my time was nine hours and five minutes. I was sore, tired, thirsty and hungry, but I finished. I wanted to do nothing more than get my medal and sweats and go home. As soon as I crossed the finish line, we were informed that they were all out of medals but we would receive them in the mail in about a month. Disappointed, we headed back to the hotel to get our sweats. When we got there we were informed that the hotel had locked them up.
After this I was mad and frustrated. I felt like all 26 miles were a waste of time and energy because I wouldn’t have anything to show for it. Why go through this again? I knew I had finished but what would distinguish me from the people who did not finish, besides my own knowledge? I no longer had any desire to run another marathon or continue with light training.
I’m motivated to run next year
Now a month later, I’ve received my medal. They sent it with the sweats to my school but that doesn’t completely make up for it. I still think the people who organized the marathon could have done a better job. They knew how many people had registered, so why not have that many medals? They also shouldn’t guarantee water and medical stations every mile if they don’t plan on having them there.
Next year I do plan on running the marathon because physically it’s good for your body and mentally it makes you stronger. You feel more motivated to get involved with sports because it feels like you can accomplish anything. Now I am happy that I did the marathon and finished. I will do it again and this time it won’t be for the medal. This time my motivation will be myself.”