Mar. 16 was the big marathon that happened in L.A. I needed extra community service hours, so I decided to make up my hours by going to give my support to all the runners. We had a team here at Hami who also went to run the marathon.
There were so many people who came to support all the runners and their family and friends, and it was a little hard to find parking. The roads were closed all around the marathon’s path.
A few weeks before the marathon, we prepared posters for the seniors who participated. We also got water and other things to show our support for the Hami runners.
The marathon was 28 miles long. I knew that must have meant everyone who was running had to have been running for a while because it’s not easy to try and run 28 miles in one day.
Senior Gemma Alfro who is in SAS was one of the runners from Hami who participated in the marathon. She says, “The marathon was definitely hard, but it was honestly a good time. There were a lot of people cheering with funny posters.”
This was Gemma’s first marathon. I was so happy for her because it’s a new experience. Gemma has been to many races, but I don’t think that compares to a marathon. It’s something different that many people don’t really experience. This experience really let students decide if they enjoyed the rigor or not.
Mr. Oh is a teacher in the BITA building who also participated in the marathon. This was Mr. Oh’s second marathon. “It was good,” he says. “I ran 16 miles, but then I started to cramp, so I walked the last couple of miles.” His goal was to run the marathon under 5 hours but he unfortunately was unable to do so this year.
I also took my best friend with me to cheer on all the runners. “It was very exciting seeing all the runners, it motivated me to try my best to prepare myself to run a marathon,” she says. “If I was a runner right now, I would feel really good seeing all the people who came to also run and support. Makes me feel like I’m not alone.”
I agree wholeheartedly with everyone I interviewed. They were many good points in their opinions. I would say I would like to try and run a marathon as well, but I know I would have to prepare a couple of months ahead so I can be able to do well in the marathon.
So, I give a big round of applause to all the runners who did the marathon. I know that it isn’t easy to get out of your comfort zone to do many different things.
