Personal Narrative: The Boston Marathon

My worst fear is getting shots. This arose when I was two years old, and had many visits to the doctor’s office because there were concerns about my respiratory system. I had to have many blood tests, which weren’t only scary, but also were painful. The blood tests came out normal, but it was later discovered I had asthma. After I had a severe reaction to tree nuts at around five, I had to have even more blood tests to determine if I had other allergies.

For the past three years I’ve been a part of a team that has shaped me into the person I am today. The John Hay cross country team has given me qualities that genuinely made me a better person such as being confident, disciplined, motivated, and a leader. Not only did running help me express these attributes, it also saved my life.

Looking back, the first sign of trouble was the contest quota that I missed by nearly fifteen percent. After my initial hot streak, I took the news hard.

On mornings as cold as this, there were only a few things I imagine one could think of that might be an appropriate form of activity. A moderate list. Running would probably be somewhere towards the bottom of that list. Yet, there I was, struggling through hundreds of people in dri-fit T-shirts and above-the-knee level, elastic gym shorts. I’d never been a fan of unfamiliar crowds. I could learn to deal with that. As I moved around and did copious amounts of stretching to get my body ready for the task before me, I unknowingly would soon have to learn to deal with something much harder to overcome than unfamiliar crowds.

I finished the Lone Star half Marathon in 2 hours & 37 minutes. Not exactly my best time, but I still have a attitude of gratitude! During these 2 hours and 37 minutes one has plenty of time to reflect on their life, and what has transpired to get them to this very moment. I never dreamed that I would be ruining at all especially in a half marathon. I am grateful to God that I am able, healthy and most of all SOBER! You see 7 years ago this month I finally decided to give my will over to God. You see I was a long time drug addict. My drug of choice was Methamphetamine! God delivered me of a severe addiction! As well as , smoking cigarettes and many more self destructing behaviors that I had become accustom too. God gave

As a timid freshman, I attended my first annual cross country camp. The first morning arrived, and at 6AM Dave Gerlach, my coach barged in echoing, “Good Morning ladies today is a beautiful day for a run.” This saying was repeated every morning, regardless if it was actually a beautiful day to run. While he yelled this through the cabins simultaneously flashing the intense lights impairing our eyes, worst if you were on the top bunk, which was not in my favor at the time. Keeping my eyes closed, I lugged myself out of bed scrambling to find clothes out of my disheveled suitcase. Over, under, around and through, Meet Mr. Bunny Rabbit, pull and through. And Just like that my shoes were on ready to run. The first run was a simple 6K. As the gun went off I thought to myself, Easy...right?

It was a bright crisp autumn Texas morning, when I decided to go for a run at a nearby park. Running the trails at the park seems to always give me a tranquil feeling afterwards. It clears my mind and gives me the energy and strength that I may need to conquer everyday obstacles. It makes me appreciate the simple things in life much more which I know at many times I have taken for granted. Runs in the park open up unforeseen opportunities from the beautiful landscape, its natural habitats and all the beauty Mother Nature has blessed us with.

The Winter Classic is a once every year event that takes place every New Year’s Day. It is a special game that thee National Hockey League puts on where two teams get to play a game outside instead of the usual indoor game. The 2011 Winter Classic happened to be taking place right here in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I as the hockey fan I am naturally wanted to go to it. I had brought up the idea of going as merely a suggestion a “Hey wouldn’t this be cool” type of thing. I was not thinking that anything would come of it just expecting it to forgotten about. Then we flash forward to Christmas morning of that year I am just about done taking in all of my presents and my mom said I have one more present left. I sat there wondering to myself what

Running the mandatory mile in gym class, what an awful experience. Starting with all of the classmates, and trying to sprint to refrain from looking like a dork. I was that kid all the way in the back, huffing and puffing minutes after everyone else had finished. I was picked on. It wasn’t that I didn’t like running, I actually had loved the distance, I was just slow. Somehow my poor mile time had been humorous to all my classmates, every single elementary year up until after middle school. For the first two years of high school, I refused to run. The taunts of the over-confident sprinters played in my head during every attempt at running. I began to actually miss feeling the sensation of my feet hitting the pavement, experiencing the rush.

ter we had. The snow had been so high that leaving the house just to go to town for the basics was near impossible. Music blasting in my ears as I pushed myself to run one more mile. “Just one more, just one more” I told myself. Sweat ran along my spine and dripped from my chin, my chest heave as i sucked in every breath. In through the nose out through the mouth. “push,push PUSH” I said to myself. Running was my way of relaxing a release of all of the toxic build up inside of me. I always went alone, it was better that way I had no one to keep up with and no one to keep up with me. I was free. Vibrations on my wrist made me slow to a walk I had been running for an hour and it was time to head back home. Home the place that I shared with

It was the first day of summer, my friends and I were headed to Great America. From the cloudless sky, the sun seemed to boil the air around us, in the muggy car with the air conditioning on full blast. The radio was turned on at almost full volume, the noise came out in static and it would sometimes cut out. My blue baseball hat knocked on the window as I anxiously stare out of it, anticipating our arrival.  Finally, out in the distance I could see the very top of the newest ride, peaking over the trees. It’s vibrant orange color made it stand out over everything else. As sweat started to drip down my forehead and the air around me was getting thicker, I saw the exit, which meant we were only moments away.. We took a sharp turn to the right, causing everything in the car to slide, but

Today's run was different and so refreshing at the same time. I ran with a new group this morning - BRG UNCC Greenway. I really like this group, despite the distance from my home. There was a lot of chatter among the woman and Spirit was noticeable strong among this group of women. Then we did something I've never seen before with any other group I ran with. We warmed up together. Afterward, we got in circle and held hands. Sung happy birthday to one lady. And then the group Coorindator prayed for the protection and running success for each women in the group. Whaaaaaa!!! Man, I wanted to jump in the middle of the circle and praise and shout.

My first recollection of running was Junior High, my best friend was on the cross country team and she convinced me to go on a run with her. I barely finished and remember thinking I am never doing this again. Almost 10 years later here I am signed up for a marathon! This will be my first marathon, but I ran my first half marathon last year and loved the feeling of all my hard work paying off. I felt like a million bucks! There are so many reasons I love to run, but one of the main reasons I do it is for strength. I love feeling confident in accomplishing my goals, working hard for something, knowing what an incredible tool my body is and knowing I can do anything I put my mind to! I love the mission of the Girls on the Run Southern Utah. I

Who can run the fastest, who’s the strongest, who can hold their breath the longest-my brother Joey and I competed over everything. He always beat me at everything we did. Joey didn’t only beat me at things. When I was growing up, it was always Joey did this, Joey did that, Joey won that. He was a big shot wrestler with national titles and a good academic student. I wanted what he had. Why does he get this, why does he get that. "I thought why can’t I get this"? That question drove me to where I am today.

I am shock by what I am seeing now. I find myself flying in the middle of the boundless sky like an eagle. The beauty of the earth is all under my eyes now. I can see the greenish forests, the giant mountains, the empty lands, and the busy cities that are far away. But the most beautiful thing is the blue sky itself where I am in. Suddenly the next moment, I was standing on the roof of a 100-stories tall skyscraper while enjoying my expensive wine and the landscape of the city. When I look down, although I am scared of heights, I see the miniature of pedestrians and cars that are moving around. Travelling in an imagination world is probably the most joyful thing to do in the life. I don’t where I will be next yet, but it will come to my mind when it is the right time.