The finish line is only half a mile away, but then it kicks in: every breath you take weighs heavier on you, your lungs feel like they’re giving up on you, and your legs start to ache even more. The sweat from your face resembles tears streaming down your cheeks. It seems like everyone is passing you while you are slowing down. What are you supposed to tell yourself at this moment? “Keep going, almost there! Can I make it to the end at this rate? I have to stay focused and not slow down.”
The internal thoughts of whether you are capable of crossing the finish line is a mental battle most runners have while running. This mental battle requires great fortitude within oneself to be successful.
“Most of the time I think that I got this far in the race and I can’t give up now and that the pain is only temporary,” Aidan Farris (11) said. “I think about how long after the race I’ll be completely fine. It might hurt now but the result of that pain will pay off. I have to keep pushing myself and actually make something of it.”
When runners are exhausted but still have two miles left to run, the run’s completion is often all about the runner’s attitude.
“Majority of the time when I’m exhausted I start complaining about how different parts of my body hurt,” Israel Avila (10) said. “It depends on the run also, if it’s a run based on time length I’m just thinking about how much time is left until the run is over. For a run with reps I’m thinking about one rep at a time and how I have to get as many reps as possible even if my body is exhausted.”
For the annual St. Jude Memphis Marathon, more than 26,000 individual participants run the 10K and 5K races along with full and half marathons in order to fundraise money for St. Jude’s life-saving mission to advance cures for pediatric cancer. Avila was among the participants in the 10K race that took place in Memphis.
“Getting to see the kids outside supporting you because you’re running for them [was a cherishable moment],” Avila said.
Whether it’s family, friends or St. Jude patients, anyone who cheers for the runners encourages them and validates the hard work they are putting in.
“I think of the people who may have come to see me run that day,” Farris said. “They took time out of their day when they could be spending it with their family or doing an important task but they chose to support me.”
While some relish the opportunity to test their physical and mental limitations, others value the opportunity to spend time outside and breathe clean air while running.
“It’s very relaxing for me, especially just being outside and zone out,” Avilsa said. “[You] feel the breeze… you often lose track of the team [by] just looking around nature.”
Though there are other gears such as smartwatches, compression leggings and dry fit shirts, proper running shoes can make a huge difference during such intense exercise. Wearing the right shoes is thus essential for effective running.
“You can’t just get any type of shoes,” Avila said. “Every foot is different and you need different support. Others will need different support or for the arch of their feet. You need a certain type of foam that will benefit you the most.”
Fatigue naturally comes along with any kind of extreme sport, whether it’s muscle, side or stomach cramps. The track and field coach provides his runners with foam rollers and requires 15 minutes of stretching before beginning any kind of practice.
“[Cramps are] one of those things where you either go through or it completely ruins everything,” Joshua Jessie (11) said. “We have a foam roller and you try to roll it out and stretch it as much as you can.”
When talking about a runner’s internal thoughts and mental battle, Dory Gatson from Memphis, Tennessee is the perfect example of a true warrior. The 38-year-old is a full-time dentist and mother of two. She has participated in the Ironman 70.3 triathlon and St. Jude’s half marathon. But her inspiring story goes beyond this.
Gatson was diagnosed with breast cancer and was prescribed 16 rounds of chemotherapy in 2022. Yet she still stayed active, reminded herself that she is capable of whatever challenges she faces daily and even finished the 26 mile Chicago marathon. Instead of thinking about how her daily activities are now much more limited, Gatson was able to mentally overcome the internal battles.
“You need to be as positive as possible [and] that’s how you get through,” Gatson said in a Memphis Health and Fitness article by Shlomit Ovadia.