Twelfth grade, Ramon C. Cortines School of the Visual and Performing Arts
Today, after 7 months of conditioning, I ran the LA Marathon, which is 26.2 miles, from Dodgers Stadium to Santa Monica State Beach for those of you who don't know. It is my first and last year in SRLA as a student; after this year, I'll have to pay for the marathon should I continue to run it the following years on my own. From the beginning, I'd never thought I could make it past 5 miles, but the community kept me going. They continued to encourage meAs time passed, we knocked out all the races from the 5K at Dockweiler Beach, to the 10K at La Puente Main Street (I didn't make it to this one since I injured my ankle at the time :c), to the 15K at Universal Studios, to the Holiday half-marathon at Pomona Fairplex, to the half-marathon at Irvine, to the 18-mile Friendship Run at Hansen Dam, and finally to the LA Marathon.
Of course, the practice runs were also arduous themselves, as we gradually increased our distances from 2 miles to 4 to 6 to 9 to 12 to 16 and finally to 20. We ran every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
The best part of the race was the crowd. The neat thing about our bib number was that it had our names on it. Even as we ran by complete strangers, they called out our names and cheered us on and that kept me strong, which is a really amazing feeling. The high fives that we got as we ran through a line of people also really inspired me to finish strong.
The worst part of the race were the hills and the CRAMPS on my legs towards the last 7 miles or so. x_x That is all I'll say about that since those moments scarred me...
Now, here's the main reason why I'm writing this: I'm glad I was able to join the team this year and make friends with whom I can let loose around. (If any of you reading this go to my school, then most of you know that I'm kinda on the quiet and shy side, but when you get to know me really well, you'll see that I'm quite hyper and dynamic when I'm around people I'm really comfortable with, lol ^_^) I guess what I'm trying to say is that SRLA has given me the chance to change myself a little and improve the way that I want to. For example, during the marathon today, I said, "TURN UP!!!" everytime there was a crowd as I ran with my friends and the crowd responded with enthusiasm and that's what makes me genuinely happy on the inside. Even my friends followed along and I'm glad that they did so since they also felt motivated to keep going! I've changed a lot over these past 4 years in high school and I'm glad SRLA was a part of it.
Thank you to everyone who came out to support all the runners today! It truly made a difference in our running ability. Thank you to the strangers who cheered other strangers on as well (even though none of them will read this...)! Finally, a big thank you to my SRLA group; you guys helped me get through my hardships this year and definitely made my senior year a blast! Hope to see you guys running next year!
