Students find many benefits in running the LA Marathon

Students are discovering that training for and competing in the Los Angeles Marathon is an ideal way to build resilience, cope with stress and achieve goals, according to a feature in the New York Times.

Over the past three decades, a nonprofit called Students Run L.A. has helped more than 50,000 middle and high school students in Southern California participate in the annual footrace, a 26.2-mile trek from Dodger Stadium to Century City. Most of those students are from low-income communities, and nearly all went on to attend college.

“It’s a combination of who the kids are and the training they do,” Ben Bravo, a teacher in  Carson, told the newspaper. “You finish a marathon, something such a small percentage of people do on any weekend, and you know you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.”

The Los Angeles Marathon is scheduled for Nov. 7, seven months after it was postponed due to Covid.