By Riley Wang rw163@uakron.edu
The Akron Marathon, Half Marathon, and Team Relay is an annual race held in Akron, Ohio during the month of September. This year, there were around 7,000 participants, some are Akron natives, others from the state of Ohio, and many from across the country and around the world! Out of the 7,000 runners, there were ten students from Akron Early College High School: Kretina Rai, Jramayne Williams, Dipesh Chuwan, Riley Wang, Marely Morales-Lara, Lena Cao, Griffin Davis, Iris Phavixay, Samantha Wooten, and Elaine Zhu. The students were organized into two separate relay teams known as Akron Early Express 1 and 2 (formerly known as the Wallaroo Express), with the help of Mr. L.O’Neil, an exceptional runner and teacher. Both teams did an excellent job running, the first team finished with a time of 3:29:14, a 20 minutes improvement from last year, and the second team finished with a time of 4:19:04, for their first time running the race. Here is an interview with some of the runners on the team!
What was it like going to the race expo on Friday?
The Akron Marathon Race Expo was a nice experience. It was cool to see so many runners at one place and seeing my name printed on the Tesla with other runners. We also got a free T-shirt and a drawstring bag.–Lena Cao
What are some preparations you did leading up to the race?
To prepare for the race, I ran longer distances since my leg was about 6.9 miles. Instead of running my usual 2-3 miles per run, I ran about 4-5 miles per run.–Jermayne Williams
What leg did you run and was it challenging for you?
I ran the fifth leg, which was the last leg and the distance was about 5 miles. The part I found most challenging was running uphill, but overall, it was not too hard and was really fun. I paced myself during the race, making sure to not go out too hard in the beginning and save energy for the end.–Elaine Zhu
What was it like to run amongst thousands of runners?
To be honest, it felt like every other race I’ve run, but just with more people and slightly longer distances. It was fun to run with people I had never seen before and running amongst them gave me the energy to run harder than previous races.–Griffin Davis
What was the coolest thing you saw on the course?
The coolest thing I saw on the course was all the people cheering for the runners. There was also a kid singing with his guitar, which I thought was also pretty cool! –Samantha Wooten
What was your favorite part of the race?
My favorite part of the race was when everyone got together and cheered on our teammates! –Iris Phavixay
In your opinion, how can the teams improve to achieve a faster time next year?
Our relay teams can improve and achieve faster times next year by doing more interval training. Interval training allows our bodies to get used to faster pace, therefore preparing us to run faster on race day. –Marely Morales-Lara
What advice would you give to students who want to participate in the relay next year?
For students who want to run the relay next year, I would advise them to just have fun and enjoy the scenery because this is a low pressure event and everyone is welcome to participate! In addition, if they get into running after participating in the relay, they can increase their running volume either by themselves or join the running club to improve their time for the next relay. –Kretina Rai
P.S. I would like to thank Mr. L.O’Neil for organizing and registering the students for the race and thank you to the Akron Marathon Corporation for sponsoring our relay teams!
ความคิดเห็น