Tougher than the LA Marathon: 18 Miles @Hansen Dam

Omar, 4 years in SRLA – Camino Nuevo High School #2

When I listen to the name, "Hansen Dam", I think of the toughest place I have ever trained for the LA Marathon (well, I haven't trained anywhere else outside of the Southern California area, so: no biggie!). This year, I ran the SRLA Friendship Run for my fourth consecutive year. I can practically say I have conquered this course! I don't like to consider that because I still struggle every single time I go through this course.

I would say it would be the course itself that is such a struggle. Mile after mile, you are at a different elevation so breathing becomes a factor, especially for me since I'm an asthmatic runner. My team ran this place twice this year during our weekend practices. The first was a 15-miler, where I probably had one of the worst practices I have had since my first year back running back during the 2011 – 2012 season. The wind was going crazy all over the place, it was even pushing me around up in the dam. That's when I figured this place still hasn't changed a bit. I managed to finish at a slow rate, but I didn't feel as I if I had run at my normal pace. The following week, we had a 10 mile practice: a perfect run from the start. I knew I was ready for the next week, the 18 Miler.

There was traffic trying to enter the school bus parking lot, so I used my time preparing my mind for the run. I didn't know how I would approach the run. Run a small pace I can keep up for the entire run? Or go pretty fast the first lap trying to squeeze out a really fast finishing time? I decided the safer approach by taking my time, because the second lap I figured is always tougher. My team was so far behind in race preparation. We didn't even have much time to stretch because the race had already began. We sang our pump up song as a team, which was enough to get me going. People stared at us like if we were crazy, but we didn't mind. The run started and I started out pretty okay. I saw the flags we had to stay ahead of, and I worried for everyone who had trouble keeping up with it. Hopefully everyone stayed ahead of it. 

The first lap went by pretty easily. I managed to catch up to my little brother, who had a stomach ache early in the run. I wished him luck and moved on. After the first lap, I thought to myself, "How am I feeling?" I seemed to be fine, my little strategy was working fine. I remembered to keep up my salts and sugars, because our coach, DQ, always told us to eat pretzels and candy along the way. I came up to about mile 12, just about the other side of the entrance of the dam, and that's where I had to take my first break. I seemed to be pretty tired out as this is always where I hit the runner’s wall in the course. I needed to keep up my pace, so I moved along. Every mile seemed to get longer for me, until it was time to do the dam one final time. I needed about three more miles to finish, but the dam was there waiting to take away all the energy left in me. I started off slow, I knew there would be limited fluids up there so I watched how fast I went. Soon enough I hit the midpoint of the dam, where people were handing out water, pretzels, and oranges: exactly what I needed for the remainder for the run. I hit mile 17 and I could just hear the people finishing and I got excited. Taking everything slow, I finished the dam and hit the final downhill. My pace got faster as I was eager to finish. I skipped the final water station and saw the Finish Line. I went faster as people all over cheered on the runners and I sprinted to the Finish Line. Finally, for the fourth year in a row, I finished the SRLA Friendship Run. I got my fastest time yet at 2 hours, 40 minutes, and 32 seconds. I conquered the dam once more!