By Rachel Dihn
Most people hate running even 1 mile. So why would you run more than 13 miles for hours nonstop? Well, you’re probably crazy. You would be doing what Mrs. Vorst, Mr. Granville, sophomore Teagan Coble, eighth graders Anna Melis and Adam Lucero, and seventh graders Caroline Webster, Matt Surin, and Chari Van Wyk did on January 14 at the rock ‘n’ roll Marathon.
A half marathon is not something you can just spontaneously walk (or run) into; it takes weeks of dedicated training. With 6 am practices led by Mr. Granville and Mrs. Vorst three days a week, the runners steadily built up their mileage and endurance and entered their training season with an 8-mile run.
On the big day, the TPA runners were surrounded by 20,000 others who were about to partake in the same journey. Of course, they didn’t start all at once; they were separated by corrals, but the fastest runners in the first few corrals. Mrs. Vorst was in the eighth corral with Teagan and they ran together for most of the race. “For me, the most challenging part was doing mile nine or ten,” said Mrs. Vorst. “It’s really fun running with someone else because you can comment on things you see on the course, such as a dead coyote or a man in an Elvis costume (both of which we saw). I didn’t see any kids the same age as our students.”
When asked why she likes running, she said, “Running as a metaphor for life. It teaches you not to give up, to see the end goal, and to value the community along the way.” Her level running is definitely shown through half marathons, as this is her seventh one. Since she wasn’t sore afterwards, she went on a hike that same day.
For Teagan Coble the half marathon went well, with a few setbacks. For one, she was stuck listening to the same song on the phone for two hours because there was no Wi-Fi. And then her hair tie broke in the middle of the race, which prompted Teagan’s sister to make memes out of her. “Mrs. Vorst and the Gatorade at the aid stations help me keep going,” remembers Teagan.”I felt really good during the race, but my knees hurt afterwards.”
Mr. Granville approached the marathon with the musical strategy. ” I sat down the night before I made a playlist called ‘Half Marathon PR music’,” he said. “I started off with the songs I wanted to have at the starting line. My first song was ‘How Great Am I’ by Muhammad Ali. When the race actually starts the slow, easy music tells me not to run fast. Half way through the music, I have fast songs that let me know it’s go-time. The pain I am in, the angrier I get in the heart of a run. In the last few miles, I was so focused on going fast that I couldn’t do simple math or notice anyone around me.” The name of the playlist was certainly true, as Mr. Granville achieved a half marathon PR of one hour and 44 minutes.
Anna Melis said that during the race, all she could think about was” how hard it was and how much I wanted it to be over. But this entire experience has made me learn that I totally want to do it again.”
All of the students who ran the race had never done a half marathon before. But they trade for two months and accomplish the feat that they thought would probably never happen in middle school or high school. Congratulations to these dedicated Knights!
A half marathon is not something you can just spontaneously walk (or run) into; it takes weeks of dedicated training. With 6 am practices led by Mr. Granville and Mrs. Vorst three days a week, the runners steadily built up their mileage and endurance and entered their training season with an 8-mile run.
On the big day, the TPA runners were surrounded by 20,000 others who were about to partake in the same journey. Of course, they didn’t start all at once; they were separated by corrals, but the fastest runners in the first few corrals. Mrs. Vorst was in the eighth corral with Teagan and they ran together for most of the race. “For me, the most challenging part was doing mile nine or ten,” said Mrs. Vorst. “It’s really fun running with someone else because you can comment on things you see on the course, such as a dead coyote or a man in an Elvis costume (both of which we saw). I didn’t see any kids the same age as our students.”
When asked why she likes running, she said, “Running as a metaphor for life. It teaches you not to give up, to see the end goal, and to value the community along the way.” Her level running is definitely shown through half marathons, as this is her seventh one. Since she wasn’t sore afterwards, she went on a hike that same day.
For Teagan Coble the half marathon went well, with a few setbacks. For one, she was stuck listening to the same song on the phone for two hours because there was no Wi-Fi. And then her hair tie broke in the middle of the race, which prompted Teagan’s sister to make memes out of her. “Mrs. Vorst and the Gatorade at the aid stations help me keep going,” remembers Teagan.”I felt really good during the race, but my knees hurt afterwards.”
Mr. Granville approached the marathon with the musical strategy. ” I sat down the night before I made a playlist called ‘Half Marathon PR music’,” he said. “I started off with the songs I wanted to have at the starting line. My first song was ‘How Great Am I’ by Muhammad Ali. When the race actually starts the slow, easy music tells me not to run fast. Half way through the music, I have fast songs that let me know it’s go-time. The pain I am in, the angrier I get in the heart of a run. In the last few miles, I was so focused on going fast that I couldn’t do simple math or notice anyone around me.” The name of the playlist was certainly true, as Mr. Granville achieved a half marathon PR of one hour and 44 minutes.
Anna Melis said that during the race, all she could think about was” how hard it was and how much I wanted it to be over. But this entire experience has made me learn that I totally want to do it again.”
All of the students who ran the race had never done a half marathon before. But they trade for two months and accomplish the feat that they thought would probably never happen in middle school or high school. Congratulations to these dedicated Knights!