Not too many people
have ever thought about running 26.2 miles, let alone actually tried it. In
the past few years over fifteen youth from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) from the Mission Viejo area have done just
that. With ages ranging from 12 to 18, these teenagers have spent months training
and preparing to run a race most people only hear about.
For some of them it
started as a way to stay in shape, though they now say it's provided
opportunities to make lasting friendships that go well beyond the desire to
stay fit.
That's not to say
everything's always easy. With a majority of marathon races being scheduled on
Sundays, many of these runners have had to face additional challenges. Taylor
Meurs described an
experience she and several others faced a few years ago while training with
their team We Rock.
The team’s planned
race unfortunately fell on a Sunday that year. Wanting to keep their Sabbath
worship, Taylor and several other teammates opted to run a different race,
one set on a Saturday. After registering bad news hit again—the Saturday race
had been cancelled. Discouraged, but determined to meet their goal of finishing
a marathon, these youth decided to sign-up for another Saturday marathon scheduled
a full two months earlier than originally planned. Not only did they have to ramp up their training
program and train harder than they had imagined, but they also had to do it alone,
since their remaining teammates were not affected by the change. Taylor remarked how great of a challenge it
was to prepare for the race, but that all of them were so glad to have
completed the marathon as well as fulfilled their Sabbath commitments. What a great example for all of us!
So how do these kids
do it? How do they stay motivated during the endless hours of practice and the
26 miles on race day? A few mentioned a team mantra they’d repeat to
themselves, “I feel good, I feel great, this is fun!” Others mentioned the help
of teammates and coaches driving them on. Some just knew that they’d already
gone as far as they had, so they weren't turning back now.
Needless to say these
are some pretty amazing youth right here in our community.
Noah Meurs and Jane Fitzpatrick
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