10K Participants at Carlsbad Marathon
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March 4, 2010 • Andrew Murray
Filed under Sports
After eighteen years, The Tri-City Medical Center Carlsbad Marathon and Half is still staying strong as over 10,000 participants completed the half and full Carlsbad Marathon.
“It’s inspiring to see the joy on the people’s faces,” Rudy Novothy, marathon announcer, said. “For us to reach out and change lives is a pleasure.”
Runners young and old from forty-eight states and twelve countries took part in the marathons hoping to accomplish tremendous goals. Alongside these runners were volunteers, cheering on each individual runner.
“I really enjoyed helping last year with the event,” Blaire Bender, junior, said. “I thought it was really great and a great event for the community of Carlsbad.”
Many of the participants in the half marathon were running their first marathons. For those who have run previous marathons, the feeling of finishing a marathon holds both relief and honor.
“They were crazy tired, but they kept pushing,” Jenna Maffucci, junior, said. “I would love to run a marathon one day, but it would be a lot of training.”
Among the less experienced runners were the past participants looking to improve on personal records. The marathon hosted national and international competition as the most experienced looked to add another accomplishment to their resume. Some were pleased with meeting their goals, while others were left in disappointment.
“I’m not happy because I didn’t do my best,” Damaoui El Mostafa, Team Morocco marathon runner, said. “I’ve been a three-time champion and my best time is 2:10. Our team wants to be the best and unfortunately my hamstring injury kept me from doing better.”
Runners who were not looking to beat personal goals were running to raise money for their respective organizations sponsoring the event. Volunteers also chipped in for the organizations like Friends of the Poor-Africa were represented on behalf of ASB along with other organizations looking to raise money.
“Our class ran four miles last year, but we decided to just volunteer this year,” Maffucci said. “Our teacher was really passionate about it and about supporting the community and the organizations.”
“It’s awesome to see people step out of their comfort zones and run marathons on behalf of the charities they’re representing,” Novothy, said. “It’s something that people never thought they would do and to see them give their all is wonderful.”
Whether it was a 14 year old teenager running his first marathon or a 77 year old man still going strong, the Carlsbad Marathon consisted of people of all ages that accomplished an improbable goal of finishing a marathon. Aside from painful and tired feelings afterward, 10,000 people will hold on to an accomplishment that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
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