USC Marathon Team

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There is no way to justly sum-up the experience of training with the 2004 USC Marathon Team. I've chosen instead to provide the email I sent to everyone immediately after running the LA Marathon. Before we get to that though, let me say what I didn't in the included email. This experience was incredible for many reasons, much of which can be attributed to my teammates. I never ceased being amazed with those on the team. The range of people who chose to run with our team ran spectrum including faculty, staff, alumni, graduate students, and undergraduates. There were so many people that made waking for a 8:00 AM every Sunday worth the effort and sacrifice. You do not need to look very far to find the passion for life each of these people hold, as it manifests itself in every area of their life. Running with this group of people provides clear proof that it's really the journey and not necessarily the destination that makes every sacrifice worthwhile.

This is an email I wrote to my friends immediately after the race:

Hi all,

From epic runs to epic emails. I am going to attempt to keep this short, but given how absolutely incredible and moving the experience was it is doubtful that I will be able to keep it short. Let me preface the story with the fact that it was 10 degrees warmer than it was suppose to be and at least 20 degrees warmer than it was during our training period. My goal was to finish the marathon in 3 hours and 30 minutes, but given the weather, it was nearly impossible to run it that quickly. Several people I met during the run were experienced marathoners and had finished previous marathons in about this time frame, but they ended up finishing just around my time. One guy I met along the course who had completed his last LA Marathon in 3:30 ended up finished about 5 minutes before me. My final time was 4 hours and 2 minutes which was about a 9:24 minute mile.

Doing something like this really restores your faith in humanity. I ran most of the marathon energizing and cheering on the spectators as they cheered me and the rest of the marathoners along. The route was lined with locals and those who were out to support their friends and family, but all the same they really provided so much support for the marathoners in general. The USC Marathon team had running shirts made and I wore this and a pair of USC shirts. The whole run I was cheered on with "Go William!", "Go USC", "Go Trojans", "Fight on", and so many other cheers I will remember for the rest of my life. One particularly memorable one was a younger woman in the first third of the marathon who shouted "Go William!" to which I yet out a loud hoot and gave her the victory sign. She replied with a "Hey hey hey...you go boy!"

The course was full of so many memorable people including little kids offering high-fives and cheering us all on. My classmates at USC and a close friend from NY also made the trip to see me run for which I am so very grateful.

Shortly after I passed the 18 mile mark I began to get muscle cramps that continued for the remainder of the course. They got so severe at points that I had to stop, stretch and walk for a short time. On several occasions I thought I was not going to finish the marathon because I feared my muscles would cramp and I would fall in pain. For most of the race I was among those leading the USC Team, but was passed as I was walking out a cramp at about mile 25.5. At that point one of my teammates ran past cheering and a few minutes after another one ran up and stayed with me for a short while before I told him to continue on. My arms were so sore from giving the victory sign for most of the course that I experienced cramps in my arms on several occasions. As I turned the corner I decided to make every effort to run the last .2 miles of the marathon, but this was far easier said then done.

I cramped-up several times while running it, but the crowd cheered and encouraged me every time I needed to stop because of pain. I sucked it up and put all my energy into running to the finish line cheering and waving the victory at the crowd. I have to say that I really worked them up. As I ran across the finish line I held my arms out in victory and cheered. I ended up being the third person from our team to finish the marathon- the other two experienced marathon runners. The entire USC Marathon Team finished the marathon- all 50 of us!!!

Long story short- I fought on and finished. I also should mentioned that I came close to crying on several occasions and am still quite emotional and tired. I hope this email find all of you in good spirits.

Much love, Drew