Alliance for Catholic Education
I f
eel great. Granted, I’m only 3 miles into my 13.1 mile journey, but I feel better than ever. It’s hot, but I’ve run in this weather countless times. After I hit 6 miles, I see a few familiar faces, but I hear their shouting far before I can make out who they are. Hannah, Donna, and Tom! They’ve traveled hundreds of miles to support me and other Catholic school teachers. After hitting the aid station, I ran over, hoping to feed off their energy for the second half of my half marathon.
The Alliance for Catholic Education asks one community each year to host a marathon. This year, two communities, Los Angeles and Santa Ana, combined efforts to co-host. Throughout the weekend, we welcomed 30 ACE teachers from as far as Charleston, South Carolina, to participate in the SoCal River Marathon.
Another 3 miles later, I hit a wall. I’ve never felt anything like it. I can hardly lift my legs without feeling sharp pain in my quads and hamstrings. My calves are starting to tighten. Despite training for months, my body is failing — I didn’t eat enough. On top of it all, the temperature is hotter, and the bright sun beats on my face; sweat spreading throughout my entire shirt. At mile 10, I start walking. My legs are seizing even more than at mile 9. Finally, I fully stop. I can’t walk. I’m desperately stretching my legs, hoping that I don’t have to throw months of training away. “Marco!” I hear suddenly. I look up and see Aidan Lanz (ACE San Jose) running the 10k. He encourages me to keep going and walks with me for a mile or so, providing a comforting presence and distracting me from the pain in my legs.
Aidan wishes me farewell and finishes his race strong. With a mile and a half to go, I continue walking. Eventually, a man walks alongside me and offers me an energy gel. I graciously accept, even though the hard part of my run is over. Seeing the struggle in my eyes, he says, “Relentless forward progress. The worst thing you can do is stop moving forward.” He pushes on, passing me and setting an example while he does it.
Keep going. Is it that easy? When you’re pursuing something true and beautiful (improving my health and running to support a local Catholic school), even in the pain or the discomfort, move forward. This is the most important, most valuable lesson running taught me. Further, you will have people alongside you. You may not have expected them to join your journey. Maybe you don’t know them at all, but they’re there. Running has shown me this truth, which transcends to other areas of my life. When teaching has been difficult, I have had a strong community in ACE to rely on. I’ve had professors, mentors, friends, and family support me through challenging times in the last two years. Not only does my experience affirm this truth, but the Gospel does too. Christ calls apostles from unrelated backgrounds, like a fisherman or a tax collector, to walk together and support each other in spreading the good news. Many of them suffered while pursuing the true and beautiful. I’m not comparing my half marathon to martyrdom, but I’ve learned that pursuing the true and beautiful is not a journey in solitude.
Running a half marathon was not on my bingo card this year. I was only able to cross the line because of the people who helped along the way. I thank the Notre Dame Club of LA and Orange County for providing us with lunch on race day and breakfast the day after. Teaching and running weren't things I was immediately skilled at. Teaching, however, hurts much less than running. I’ll definitely stick to teaching...and running.