Sheyly: My First Ever Marathon!

My name is Sheyly and the 2018 LA Marathon was my first ever marathon! It was an exciting eighth grade year with my great team.

During my training there was a time where I thought “why am I doing this, it’s too hard, should I quit?” I told my cousin Victoria that I was thinking of quitting. She ran the marathon in February 2016 and told me that you I was going to feel great pain and that I was going to be in a mental state where only the thought of finishing would make me keep running. However, she also said that while running the Marathon I would think “Wow, I’m actually doing this.” She told me that the greatest part is finishing because you feel like you accomplished something great. I thought about it and decided to keep training with SRLA.

We completed the 10k, 15k, and half marathons. As a team we were ready for the Marathon. The night before the big day we went to a team diner. It was amazing; I looked around and thought we are a family. A team family. We ate and went home. I was excited.

Later that night I set everything out on my floor to check if I had everything I needed for the Marathon. I was anxious and did not know what was going to happen the next day. Through this experience I learned that by working hard you can achieve something great. When I passed the finish line, I felt so proud of myself. I smiled at Galilee, my running partner, as we ran in pain across the finish line. My time was 6:02. It would have been better if we did not walk, but it was still a wonderful experience. I limped through the door when I got home. Everyone was waiting me to congratulate me. I decided that I’m doing it again. Thank you SRLA.

To support Sheyly and her teammates on their journey to the finish line next year, make a donation today. To share your SRLA story, email Naomi at naomi@srla.org.