Analiah Herrera, left, and Brised Nolasco represented Students Run LA in the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, March 19. Photo: Kristy Hutchings, SCNG
For some, Sunday’s 2023 Los Angeles Marathon was more than an opportunity to run—it was an opportunity to create opportunities for other runners. For such groups, victory meant much more than crossing the finish line at Universal City.
More than 3,100 runners from Students Run LA, an after-school fitness and tutoring program offered at more than 185 public schools in the greater Los Angeles area, were highly visible on the course, a sea of neon with their revealing yellow t-shirts. The program engages underserved communities from the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys to Whittier, San Pedro, Eagle Rock, and everywhere in between.
“The program is about developing them as leaders, developing them to become positive role models,” said Kristi Dorf, SRLA leader and teacher at Twin Lakes Middle School in El Monte.
Concluding each year with the LA Marathon race, the year-long program is as much about character, leadership and achievement as it is about fitness.
“It just stems from passion,” said Analiah Herrera, an eighth-grader waiting her turn to take off Sunday on the 26.2-mile course that included some of Los Angeles’ best-known landmarks.
“I do a lot of other sports,” he added, “like softball and soccer.”
Analiah hadn’t run a full marathon yet, but she had been preparing with her classmates and made it to an 18-mile course ahead of Sunday’s grand finale.
“(I’m) excited,” Analiah said, noting that her only plans after crossing the finish line are to “eat and sleep plenty.”
Analiah and other students have been preparing for the event since September, along with their teachers and administrators who volunteered their time to train with them.
The group’s goals: to increase students’ self-confidence, foster camaraderie, and offer completing the marathon as an achievement, the result of a season of sweat, focus, and dedication.
Brised Nolasco, a seventh grader who also ran her first marathon, added one more accomplishment: having a great day in Los Angeles.
“It’s just for fun,” he smiled.
The Black Girls Run, a national organization with a local chapter in Los Angeles, also sent a contingent to the marathon.
“It’s important because in our community, this is something that isn’t taught until we actually have a diagnosis of maybe diabetes or high blood pressure,” said Sherri Harris, BGR LA ambassador. “Usually in the black community, this is not something that is approached proactively, it is more of a reactive basis.”
Historically, communities of color in Los Angeles have also had less access to parks, green spaces, and sidewalks. Many neighborhoods, including South Los Angeles, are classified as food deserts, meaning there are few with fewer stores offering healthy food options in the area, further preventing people living in those neighborhoods from maintaining a active and healthy lifestyle.
Black Girls Run was established in 2009 with the goal of helping Black women overcome those barriers.
“We don’t have membership fees, but we do teach some of the same strategies that other running groups teach for a fee,” Harris said. “The ladies who run with us are here on a voluntary basis and are trained for 5k, 10k, half and full marathons.”
About 12 members of the BGR LA chapter ran in Sunday’s marathon, Harris said, but the group has more than 6,000 members in total.
“A lot of women come to support each other (and) have a space to voice their concerns,” Harris said. “It is not only physical, it is also mental: the responsibility, the camaraderie. BGR gives you a foundation and a platform to find other like-minded women.”
And, Harris said, anyone is welcome to join them.
“Any woman who wants to run and move for the purpose of being healthy and having a healthy active lifestyle, we support you,” Harris said, “regardless of race, religion, color or creed.”
Empowering Leadership in Latina Athletes also participated in the big run on Sunday, with the goal of raising funds to help pay for sports teams for local schools.
The group, established in 2019, seeks to level the playing field for Latina athletes, who are not always equally represented in collegiate athletics, according to ELLA co-founder Patty Godoy.
Empowering Leadership in Latina Athletes was at the LA Marathon to raise funds for sports equipment for local schools. The group, established in 2019, seeks to level the playing field for Latina athletes, who are not equally represented in collegiate athletics, according to ELLA co-founder Patty Godoy. Photo: Kristy Hutchings, SCNG “We know that as girls continue their journey, when they want to get serious about playing in college,” Godoy said, “there are fewer girls of color represented.”
Added Godoy, “ELLA, meanwhile, works to ensure that young Latina women and girls are encouraged to participate in sports from an early age, and stay with them later in life.”
The group also encourages college athletes to pursue education and leadership skills, Godoy said, so they can have a career after college.
“We want to make sure they have leadership skills that allow them to be successful,” Godoy said.
ELLA also does community outreach, including staffing a table at the Sunday marathon, to boost underserved schools.
To help raise funds, Godoy and a group of about 40 people participated in the half marathon on Sunday.
“We are very grateful to everyone who is here raising funds,” Godoy said, “and we hope that they continue to help us because there are many inequities that exist in the sports community that we want to even out.”
