By Candice Navi

Seniors Carl Lawson, Cherelle Patrick, Daniel Katz and Trini Rios will be running 26.2 miles on Memorial Day in the 24th annual Los Angeles Marathon.

During the marathon, participants run the streets of Los Angeles, beginning in Universal City and ending in Downtown Los Angeles.

Most of the students who plan on competing have already begun some form of training.

Patrick has been running around her neighborhood during the weekdays and on the weekends she has run numerous races in preparation for the marathon.

“Some weekends I run in races that are sponsored by organizations, such as the Alive & Running and the Learning for Life Run,” Patrick said.

Katz and Lawson have done a great deal of training together and even ran a half marathon jointly last May. Their decision to train for this marathon seemed like the next step.

“Starting 12 weeks before the race, I am going to be running 40 miles a week, with long runs on weekends.” Lawson said. “I just run in Brentwood around my house.”

In preparation for the marathon, Katz has already begun running on a partially daily basis.

“To train I run five to eight miles about five times a week after school, taking days off to rest,” Katz said. “Normally I run around Balboa Park, which is a nice 3.3 mile loop. The number of laps depends on how I feel.”

Rios, on the other hand, has not begun any intense training but still runs about three times a week at the Upper School.

“I’ve been trying to run at least three times a week at school and slowly increasing the distances I run about every week,” Rios said. “Recently, however, I’ve been having shin problems so I’ve had to cut down on my running a bit.”

Their reasons for running the marathon all vary, whether it is for personal gain or to support a family member. Patrick has spent years at the Los Angeles marathon supporting her uncle, but next year, she has decided to join him.

“Every year he would ask me to run with him the next year, but I never did. But since this is going to be my last year in Los Angeles, it’s now or never,” Patrick said.

Katz’s main reason for running the marathon is to prove to himself that he can accomplish anything.

“I decided to run the marathon because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, while also getting in good shape,” Katz said. “I am also debating going to the Air Force Academy and I would need to be fit and have endurance, and I could get these by training for and running the marathon.”

The intensity of their training will only increase as the marathon date approaches.

So far, training has not affected their lives too much, although Patrick has been suffering from knee pain due to her regimen.

“The training has gotten really hard for me physically,” Patrick said. “It keeps my knees very sore. The training also takes up a lot of my free time on weekends. It’s very draining so I am getting to sleep a lot earlier.”

As the date of the marathon draws nearer, Lawson and Katz, who have been training together, will slowly increase the intensity of their training.

“Once the real intense training starts, Carl and I will start running about eight miles a day during the week, and then run about 12 to 18 miles on the weekend,” Katz said.

So far, the experience of preparing for a marathon has been a rewarding experience for all the students, giving them a greater appreciation for running and accomplishing such a difficult task.

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve hated running,” Patrick said. “I’ve just never been a fan of it. But so far in my training, I’ve learned to love it.”

For Rios, training has caused her to become more aware of her health. If she plans on running later in the day, she must pay more attention to what she eats, Rios said.

“Training is fun because you get to see yourself get in much better shape and you amaze yourself at the distances you’re covering,” Katz said. “I have never run a marathon, but I hope to complete this one in around four hours, hopefully under it.”

Lawson’s father has run two marathons in the past, which made Lawson think it would be intersting to try it out for himself.

“There is a great sense of accomplishment when you train this hard for something and succeed,” Lawson said.