The feeling that I had as I crossed the finish line after running 26.2 miles through Los Angeles was one of the best feelings I have ever felt. Until, of course, I stopped and then tried to walk and my legs started cramping.
My favorite part of the marathon was the fact that crowds lined the streets the entire 26.2 miles. The only thing that got me through this and kept me motivated was seeing the support from the people who came out to support us and the rest of the runners. People had signs and were giving out free snacks and water for energy. Not only did a sip of Gatorade here and then give me an extra boost, but the energy of the crowd made me have a smile on my face the entire time.
The LA marathon starts in Dodgers Stadium and the course ends by the Santa Monica pier 26.2 miles later. The route featured many famous landmarks and locations, and we got to run by all of them.
I just kept reminding myself that I was currently running a marathon and the entire run, I couldn’t get over how insane it was that I was actually doing what I had set out to do months before. All of the training and anticipation in the months prior had led up to this day and it was finally happening. The endless miles of training and late night exhausting runs were all becoming worth it with each step I took closer to the finish line.
The hardest part of the run were miles 20 and 21, because for some reason, there were very few people on the streets and therefore no one to motivate us, especially at such a tough time in the run. Many people say that around mile 20 you can hit a mental wall where your motivation starts to decrease, and this couldn’t have been truer. Without anyone there to distract us from our aching bodies or our looming thoughts of still having 6 more miles to run, these miles seemed extremely long and were incredibly tiring and draining.
Credit: India Pearman
At a certain stage in the run, the pain disappeared as our legs became numb and the focus became keeping a positive and motivated mentality to just keep going! I had so much adrenaline for the last few miles and I was so excited to get across that finish line. There were thousands of people there cheering so incredibly loud and I felt proud of myself for accomplishing this.
This is one of my favorite experiences and even though I was sore for the following week, every mile and every ache were completely worth it.
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