Marathons allow students and staff to help the community

Just keep running, just keep running, just keep running, running, running.

Over the years, both students and teachers have developed interests in marathons and walks. They have enjoyed new experiences and have found satisfaction in becoming more active in the community.

Junior Michael Bancroft ran his first full marathon in the San Francisco Marathon on July 31.

“It was surreal,” he said. “It took me a while to realize the fact that I was participating in such an amazing event.”

He felt tired and sore after the marathon but deemed the experience memorable.

“I saw AT&T park at the 24-mile marker, and I knew that I was almost at the finish line,” he said. “I ran as fast as I could to the end.”

Bancroft began training during the track season of his freshman year, when he befriended 2010 alumna Alice Curtis. The two had resolved to run a marathon together that summer but later felt unprepared. During his sophomore year, Bancroft trained by himself.

Before he began running in eighth grade, Bancroft had been overweight for most of his life and his doctor informed him to do something about his weight.

“By the end of ninth grade, I had lost 40 pounds, and running the marathon was my symbolic victory over my weight problems,” he said.

He does not train during marching band season, but at other times he runs six to eight miles daily and practices with speed workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays during track season.

Senior Linus Johansson participated in the same event as Bancroft did but ran the half-marathon.

“The feeling afterwards is great, but while you are running you don’t feel [the same feeling],” he said. “[I felt] pain mixed with happiness [after].”

Johansson participates in the school’s cross-country and track teams and trains with his friends over summer.

Science teacher Kelly Nicholson has been running since her high school days. About 14 years ago, her coworker, math teacher Laura Lopez, introduced Nicholson to her running group in San Jose Fit that would train together for marathons.

“[At first] I thought, ‘Wow, that’s really outrageous,’ but she encouraged me to come out,” Nicholson said.

The group begins practice each April.

“They basically take you from being a couch potato doing absolutely nothing, and by October, you’re ready to run a marathon,” she said.

The first week that Nicholson joined, she ran a timed mile so that she would be sorted into a group with people that ran at a similar speed.

Since beginning to run marathons, Nicholson has begun to eat healthier and hydrate herself differently in addition to participating in core conditioning workouts.

“All the women in my family had heart disease of some sort or other,” she said. “So [by running marathons] I’m hoping to be the person in my family who doesn’t have that.”

Nicholson and fellow science teacher Jenny Garcia participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in San Francisco on Sept. 26.

Nicholson participated in the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco on Oct. 16. All of the participants receive Tiffany necklaces. “A cute fireman wearing a tuxedo is out with a silver tray and gives you a Tiffany’s box,” she said.

Math and psychology teacher Laressa Ridge is participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Race for the Cure in San Diego on Nov. 18 to 20. Ridge first did the walk with Garcia and a group of math teachers.

“One of my most memorable moments was when we passed a woman who just stopped her car on the side of the road and said, ‘Thank you, everybody. I just had my final round of chemo yesterday,’” Ridge said.

Ridge continues to strive to raise awareness of breast cancer through these walks. She feels inspired by her experience and by the impact of such events out in the community.

“I think the best part is seeing the people that we’re affecting through this walk,” Ridge said.

This will be her third year participating in the walk, and she plans to do it with her sister, who has also done the event in the past.

“It will be a very different event,” Ridge said. “[My sister is] my best friend, and we’ve kind of said, ’Let’s do this together now.’ It’s something that we want to do with each other because the Susan G. Komen story was inspired because her sister died of breast cancer.”

Although each year brings a unique experience for Ridge, the walks have always been a very enriching experience and have even had an impact on her teaching.

“I think the part that I take with me to teaching is just the perseverance that people can overcome so many obstacles and do [so] in a positive way,” Ridge said. “So, [know] to celebrate the little small steps and also know to celebrate the big steps.”