On November 7, 2021, a large crowd started gathering at Dodger stadium for an annual event that would take attendees over 4 to 5 hours to complete. Each year thousands of individuals start a process in preparation for this event known as the Los Angeles Marathon. Yes, there are some people in this world who actually want to run, jog, walk and crawl to cross the finish line of a course that is 26.2 miles long.  Now, 26.2 miles is an interesting number as an official length for a course that thousands around the world see as normal as the sun rising on the east coast. Let us look at a bit of history about this distance. At the 1908 Olympic Games which were held in London, England. You’re not going to believe this, but because the royal family wanted the marathon’s finish line to be in front of the royal family’s “viewing box”, the course was lengthened to 26.2 miles. (The king and queen wanted the end of the race to come to them, and so the runners had to go even farther!) Anyway, after 16 years of extremely heated discussion, this 26.2-mile distance was established at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France as the official marathon distance. And that is why the marathon is called the marathon, and why it is 26.2 miles in length. There is no one that I am aware of that can physically roll out of bed and run a marathon distance without proper preparation and training.

The guest speaker at the meeting was club member Gina Post-Franco. Gina shared with us the dietary preparation, mindset and clothing and shoes she carefully picked out to complete the 2021 Marathon. Her first, but according to her not her last.

Gina started her presentation by answering the question that most attendees had on their minds. Why? Why would anyone want to run a marathon when just three years ago she was relatively a novice runner? She started off running 1 mile, 2 miles, and then she started extending the distance to the point that the thought of running a marathon actually seemed like a reality instead of some crazy dream. The normal progression or training for a marathon was immediately put to a halt with the introduction of Covid-19 to the world. Like most of our lives, 2020 was a blur and 2021 started off like a bad extension of 2020. Yet for Gina, 2021 still had goals and expectations to complete. Not just for herself, but for her sons Reese and Dylan. She wanted to let them see that when their mom sets out to do something and is faced with obstacles, she can and did persevere to meet or exceed those goals. Suddenly the race schedule that Gina laid out for herself consisted of four (4) half marathons in two months before the actual LA Marathon on November 7th.

“Dig deep, get gritty and move forward.” These were just some of the thoughts going through the mind of Gina Post-Franco as she was completing the final 5 miles of the Los Angeles Marathon. The pain was there, she was tired and the sights of other competitors walking or stopping made her push even harder. Just keep running, was the thought for that last mile. As she approached the finish line, she heard the cheers from friends, family but mostly from people that she didn’t even know pushing her across that finish line. Waiting for her was her husband, Anthony and her two sons Reese and Dylan. A reminder…. If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. By the way, she met her goal for the race by running a 4:00:29. Her next goal is to qualify and compete for the Boston Marathon. Based on what she has already achieved, look out for her running in Boston and maybe, just maybe with Anthony by her side.

David Muse