The exhaustion you feel after finally crossing the finish line at a marathon is like nothing you have felt before. You are completely drained physically, mentally, and emotionally. Your legs hurt to the bone, at the same time you are gasping for air while your throat screams for moisture. All of this is a small price to pay for the overwhelming feeling of self pride and accomplishment you are overcome with. Running the marathon is only half of the process. Training is very important with steps such as finding motivation, diet, safety, stretching, and last preparations the day of the marathon. With many physical, mental, and social benefits the hardship is well worth it. I greatly enjoy running and hope to one day run a full marathon.
Running may be one of the oldest and most developed sports out there. According to legend, the first marathon was run unintentionally in 490 B.C. by a Greek Soldier(James). The soldier ran twenty-five miles to Athens to announce battleground victory over the persians then dropped dead(James). In 1896 the marathon was included in the Olympic games, in Greece, for the first time(James). It was there that the first gold was won by a Greek runner with a time of two hours fifty-eight minutes and fifty seconds(James). The current world record for the fastest finish is two hours three minutes and fifty-nine seconds(James). Marathoning has turned into a world wide activity and every person who participates must endure intense training.
Training for a marathon is a huge commitment which calls for a large amount of time, energy, and physical strain. The key to training is staying motivated, practicing safe and smart training, and following a nutritious diet(“How to Train for a Marathon”). Fi...
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They race against themselves: to conquer their wills, to transcend their weaknesses, to beat back their nightmares" (603). This quotation shows that running is not always competition, but it helps runners overcome their
...the marathon, form a sense of unity and bond over love for the same cause. It is important for any athlete or coach working with a team to know how to work as one unit to achieve a common goal, rather than trying to pull all the weight alone. Raising over $176,000 for UNI Dance Marathon 2014 would have been impossible for one person to achieve!
Rosenkranz, R. R., Cook, C. M., & Haub, M. D. (2007). Endurance Training on Low-Carbohydrate and Grain-Based Diets: A Case Study. International Journal Of Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism, 17(3), 296-309
transformed the marathon from a small race with 55 finishers in 1970 to one of the largest
Many people argue that cross country is one of the hardest, most physically challenging sports there is out there. A lot of people shudder at the idea of running two or more miles on hilly, steep, muddy and rocky trails. The funny thing about that is that is not even the worst part. In order to run two to four miles in races, one must prepare. “How do you prepare your body to run this long?” one might ask. That is where my argument comes in. Being a cross country runner of four years, I have seen, done and heard of a plethora of ways and strategies to become a successful cross country runner. Some are outlandish, ridiculous and just plain out stupid; but some are also rewarding, beneficial and worth the hard work. Personally, I feel like having a good strong balanced diet, learning how to pace yourself and maintain a positive, motivational attitude and the key ingredients in being a successful cross country runner.
Four days after winning the Seagate 100 km Ultramarathon in Toledo, Ohio, I was hospitalized for 11 days with Acute Kidney Failure, a direct consequence of the race, possibly exacerbated by the 2400 mg of ibuprofen that I took during the race. In this article, I will describe my race and my hospitalization, discuss similar experiences of two runners after the 1994 Western States (WS) 100 Mile Endurance Run, and tell what I have learned that might be of general interest.
The day they ran the Boston Marathon, the date was April 15, 2013, and it was the 117th annual run. According to history.com, "The event is held on Patriots' Day, which commemorates the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord that kicked off the American Revolutionary War." The run in 2013 started in Hopkins right outside of Boston. There were around the amount of 23,000 runners for this marathon in 2013. The women usually started at 9:32 am, that’s usually the elite women. The elite men usually kicked off at around 10:00 am then the rest at 10:20 to 10:40. At about 2:49 pm with about 5,600 still running the marathon, two bombs
In East Africa, there is an area know as the Great Rift Valley. It is in this Great Rift Valley, where the world’s most dominant long distance runners come from, Kenya. In the past three decades, runners from Kenya have simply dominated the sport of long distance running in all facets including cross-country, track, and the marathon. In the world rankings for marathon running, Kenyans hold 8 of the top 10 spots for the men and 6 of the top ten spots in women’s rankings. (Entine, Par. 2) But how can one country be so overpowering in a sport that anyone can participate in? There are a number of factors that all work together to make Kenyan runners the best of the best. Rigorous training regimens, the physical geography of Kenya, country and world support of the athletes, genetics and early participation of children are all factors in the study of why Kenyan runners are by far the best long distance runners in the world. To start off, you must look at the physical geography in which the Kenyans train.
There are even steps for cross country runners who aren’t as good as everyone else. The most important step in my opinion is to master walking without anyone seeing you. By doing this it lets people think that you hadn’t walked at all so they will think that you have more endurance than you actually do. Next when you do walk, fast walk. That way your pace isn’t as slow, therefore; it makes it even less noticeable that you walked. Lastly don’t compare yourself to anyone else in the race. You are doing what you can do they just may have been running for a lot longer than you. Set a goal of how fast you want to run and really work towards it. A good thing
The epic and historic Battle of Marathon took place, almost 2500 years ago, 25 miles’ northeast of the present-day capital city of Greece, Athens, on the plains of Marathon. The adversaries were none other than the city-state of Athens (Athenians), and the powerful Army of Darius, the King of Persia (Persians). Darius sent his Army to subjugate Athenians and punish them for their alleged involvement in the burning and destruction of Sardis, the then capital city of Persia. The Persians were a far superior force. They had the numbers and the weaponry.
The last time I did not run for consecutive days, was during Middle School. Running has been a very powerful tool for me, and the joy it brings is something I carry. As a person who has an unhealthy amount of anxiety in my life, running has been an outlet for me. Whenever I feel anxious or stressed out, I run. There are two ways running brings me relief; the first is it is an immediate distraction from whatever is bothering me. In addition, running also gives me a “runner's high” after I run. While this may seem unimaginable, it is actually very real because the pleasure of finishing a workout has few parallels. After I run, for the rest of the day, my mood is elevated.
Longboat ran his first competitive race at age 17, although he didn't win, it gave him a feel of what it is like to run and pushed him to improve his strength and endurance. The training paid off for Longboat, winning him the Victorian Day race, with more than 400 yards ahead of the nearest competitor. The next race for Longboat would be the Hamilton Herald Around the Bay race along a 19-mile course. When he lined up at the starting line, no one there had ever heard of him, and he was given one hundred to one odds at winning. By the end of the race, everyone knew who he was. Next, Longboat had in his sights was the Boston Marathon, and he won the race with a record time. With the Boston Marathon won, it was time to face the London Olympics. Sadly, he could not finish this race due to the heat. Another one of Longboat's accomplishments came when war broke out, and he signed up for war and was a messenger running between command post delivering messages when communication was down. Throughout all these achievements, they didn't come easy, and Longboat had to overcome many
Running is not easy, but most Saturday mornings in the summer, I convince myself to step outside and test the strength of my heart by running a few miles. Half-Marathon US Champion Julia Stamps once stated, “Running away, can also be running toward something.” That is exactly what I do. When I start running away from my house, I end up running towards a specific destination. Two miles in, I stop at my destination to enjoy the view of Ted Grinter’s
“Two thousand years after the victory of the Athenians over the Persians, writers continued to call upon the name of Marathon to symbolize humanity’s struggle for freedom. The nineteenth-century English poet Lord Byron, who fought for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire, penned the following verse:”
Running hurdles has proved to be one of my greatest passions in life. I love the fear, unpredictability, and brief feeling of flying over the hurdles, just barely hovering over the top of each one. Most importantly, I am infatuated with the feeling after each race: my heart beating intensely in my chest and the feeling of relief and accomplishment washing over me. Although I cannot say running hurdles has been the greatest adversity I have faced in life, I have found that my life has always been like a race, running from one hurdle to the next, always having to figure out how to get up after each fall or to overcome each obstacle in front of me.