LA Marathon 2014!

Let me start of by saying congratulations to all that finished the 2014 LA Marathon. This years LA Marathon really made me give it my all. It was the first time in a race of any distance where I felt like I wasn’t “racing” against other runners, but racing against myself I felt like I wasn’t running up to my potential. Despite the smiles and laughs along the course deep down inside I was in excruciating pain. All I wanted to do was get to mile 11 where my family was waiting for me to take an electrolyte boost drink to see if that would give me strength to continue on the rest of the course. Beginning on mile 7, well at least for me, is where the sun decided to play peek-a-boo with me. The heat wasn’t really a wow factor for me considering I’ve been doing some heat training for my first Ultra Marathon “Leona Divide 50k”. So I was able to manage the heat pretty well doing what all runners do splash a cup of water on the face and pour some over the head to cool down.

Getting to mile 15 and finally seeing a bunch of familiar faces it definitely made me feel a lot better with such a warm welcome. Hanging out with everyone have a talk with my friend Donna C, on how difficult this race is for me. Then I realized I still have 11 more miles, I should really get going.

The road to mile 20 which is where I was going to give up, where some tears were shed and some things were said that I shouldn’t mention. It was tough. I felt useless to continue to run, I sat down and realized that this wasn’t going pretty if I continued to run, or walk. I was walking the entire time debating whether to give up or continue, I have my head down and notice a penny and the floor. I bent over to pick up and to get a closer look and see that it’s heads up. For of those of you who don’t know. Whenever I find a penny heads up, I picture my cousin, may he rest in peace, who passed away at the age of 1, saying hello to me. The moment I picked it up and realized it was heads up a tear came out of my eye. I told myself “Is this a sign?”. “Does he want me to continue no matter the circumstances?” I held the penny in my hand squeezed it tight looked up to the sky and said “Yes!”. I was not going to give up, not now. I came this far to give up.  

Chanting in my head “Relentless and Unbreakable” I kept going. Whether I was walking, jogging, or even just taking step by step I didn’t give up. Finally getting to mile 25, I could already taste victory. Looked at the time and I knew from the start I wasn’t going to get a PR or even under 7 hours. Running as fast as I could, which was like a 15 minute pace I did not stop. Keeping my cousin in my thoughts I kept pushing forward. Hearing the cheers from finishers and spectators and I reach the finish I just couldn’t get it to my head that I finally made it to Santa Monica 8 hours and 6 minutes later! Never thought I’d be able to finish what to me has to be the toughest race I’ve ever done. Crossing the finish line, receiving my medal proud I look up to the sky and thank my cousin for pushing me forward.

Something as simple as a penny can mean so much to a person. In my case it gave the strength to finish the last 10 kilometers of a marathon. If I wouldn’t of have found that penny I think I would have called it a day, and dropped out. Yes I’m ashamed of my time, but I’m proud that I finish. Never give up for any reason, push yourself to finish.

    See you all in 2015! :)

-Fernando Anaya