Los Angeles Marathon

BY: MAX AZUMI

On March 19th, 2023, our Students Run LA team finished the Los Angeles Marathon, a 26.2-mile-long race starting from the Dodgers Stadium and ending at Century City. The LA Marathon is a major running event in California where nearly 22,000 runners from around the world participate. From our school Antonio Altamirano, Maximilien Azumi, David Boussi, Lauren Brower, Elizabeth Castillo, Sean Chavez, Destiny Lee, Nathan Medina, Jericho Milrad, Oscar Orellana, Rose Ortiz, Rachel Perez, Luca Rios, Victoria Sanchez, Camilla Suleymanova, and Alexandra Villanueva, a total of 16 students, have crossed the finish line to receive the finisher medal.

Junior Nathan Medina, who went to participate in the marathon, said “The marathon was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had” and is proud of himself for finishing the race at the set time goal. Despite the positive comments, he has also revealed how “there was a bad part that I was hoping to not have to go through”. He says how he was absolutely flying for the first 21 miles while achieving “mile splits”, the time at each mile marker, that seemed unbelievable to him. “However as soon as mile 21 came around I hit the wall.” Nathan continues, and by “hit the wall” Nathan explains that it is a common occurrence in the marathon that happens when you can’t keep going due to fatigue either mental, physical, or both. “For me I feel as if it was both. The race had broken me for the first time in a while.” Nathan shares his feelings when hitting the wall. He used up all his energy, his will to keep going was gone, he lost hope and started to walk. Even so, he was fortunate enough to have been running with SOCES SRLA coach Jose Valle. “He had constantly pushed me to keep going when he could’ve went on to finish by himself. If it weren’t for him I don’t know how I’d have gotten through the last 5 or so miles all by myself.” With Coach Jose Valle’s help, Nathan was able to achieve his goal of a “sub 3 and a half hour”, under 3 and a half hour marathons. His finishing time was 3:28:12. Even after achieving his goals, he felt fatigued from the race and wanted to sit down forever.

Although he felt fatigued and struggled during the race, every runner including Nathan has stated how the community, supporters on the side of the road, and other runners have created a great, unforgettable memory for them.