running competition essay

My Worst Best Marathon

When I arrived in Chicago for the 2021 marathon last week, I had every reason to believe I would beat my previous marathon time: a 3:29 at the 2020 Los Angeles Marathon that put me minutes under the Boston Marathon qualifying threshold. Qualifying for Boston is a big achievement for most runners, one I was proud of, and one I wanted to surpass. But it wasn't to be.

Eighteen months ago, I probably would have been too ashamed or embarrassed to write this story. But today, I'm surprised to find that not only do I want to, I feel proud to write it. The truth is, I've changed. I still want to chase big goals and push myself. But what happened Sunday during the 26.2 miles of the race made me better — even if it was my worst marathon time yet.

Running was not just a thing I did, it was a place I went. Somewhere I could be alone and let my thoughts unspool, or barely think at all.

When I started running more seriously five years ago, I instantly applied my Type A ambition to the endeavor. Running meant getting faster with every race. And for years, I did just that. Then, just a few short days after my running pinnacle at the LA Marathon, the city shut down. The pandemic took hold. I kept running, pulling up my mask whenever I came within 12 feet of my neighbors, but I was adrift. Like so many of us, I was full of grief for all we had lost, and a wave of depression left me feeling physically sick. It was hard to wake up in the mornings. My stomach always hurt. I cried when I listened to the news, then felt guilty for the crashing waves of my emotions, knowing how privileged I was and how much worse so many other people had it. But I still ran. I needed to. Running was not just a thing I did, it was a place I went. Somewhere I could be alone and let my thoughts unspool, or barely think at all. On my early-pandemic runs, I would ruminate on the beauty of the jacaranda trees in my neighborhood, leaving behind the stress that awaited me when I returned home to my computer and my phone, taking deep breaths and feeling how precarious and wonderful it was to be able to do just that. Then, in the summer of 2020, I sprained my ankle. Badly. Being injured is always hard. This time it was harder.

It was a long road back to recovery from me, both physically and when it came to mental wellness. But I dedicated myself to focusing on both. Not to, I felt, would be to disrespect everyone who wasn't able to do just that. I had to get better, I thought, simply because I had the opportunity to do it. I started back slow. In June of this year, when Nike asked me if I wanted to train for another marathon , I knew I was ready. I started working with running coach Rebeka Stowe to get race-ready for Chicago. It was a joyful training cycle. The world was cautiously reopening, and people were gathering together again. I ran with Koreatown Run Club and alongside my good friend Sheena as she prepared for the LA Marathon. I felt my speed returning, my belief in my running ability and my athletic determination trickling back into my body and brain.

Then it was race day. It wasn't long after I crossed the start line in Chicago that I realized I didn't feel right. I pride myself on my steel will, my ability to push through discomfort, and my dedication. I mean, marathons are supposed to be hard. But it also became clear that not only would reaching my goal time be nearly impossible after my rocky start, but to do it would require sacrificing something I didn't want to give: the joy of the run, the first of the American major marathons to take place since the pandemic began.

By mile eight, I knew that strange, elusive alchemy that creates the ideal race had not come together for me that day. And I changed my goal. As I looked around me at the tens of thousands of people running, I decided to let awe wash over me. All of us had survived, and here we were, back together, trying to do this impossible-seeming thing. Wow. How lucky was I to be sharing the asphalt with other runners again? To be able to be in my body, to smile, to laugh at the corny marathon signs people hoisted at us from the sidewalks? So lucky. My new focus was to lean into that feeling of elation, of gratitude, and turn my race into a fun run. To be honest, most of the miles were still not that fun. I've lucked out in my running career; even in my previous marathons, I didn't really struggle. Of course, those races were extremely hard, but I felt good — if challenged — throughout. This was different. My guts were twisted. My mouth felt made of cotton. It simply was not in me. Did I make some rookie mistakes that contributed to that? Yes. Did some things completely out of my control impact my performance? Yes. But do I feel the need to go into detail, make excuses, or offer to anyone an explanation? No.

The last year and a half has changed me. I'm still driven to push myself and accomplish more as an athlete, a writer, a person in the world. But as I gave myself the grace and understanding I needed during those long 26.2 miles in Chicago, I realized I'd grown. I'd come to learn that being kind to yourself doesn't always mean giving up on yourself. Being gentle with yourself doesn't always equal letting yourself off the hook. Sometimes it just means allowing yourself the grace you'd give anyone else in that moment. And that's hard. But I did it. And for that, I'm proud.

Don't doubt it: I'm still going to get that personal record. I know my Boston qualifying time was no fluke and I absolutely believe I can do it again. But I don't feel like I have to do it in order to prove something to myself or anyone else this time, to post my finish time on Strava and Instagram and impress some people, to feel like I've earned the label "fast." So, while my time in the Chicago Marathon wasn't an achievement for me, the race no doubt was. I've become a better athlete, a better person, and a better friend to myself. How could that not be a win?

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Running Race - Free Essay Examples and Topic Ideas

A running race is a competition in which participants strive to complete a set distance, often ranging from a few hundred meters to several kilometers, in the shortest amount of time possible. Races can vary in difficulty and terrain, but common types include sprints, cross-country, and marathon races. Runners train for races by improving their speed, endurance, and technique, often using a combination of running, strength training, and nutrition. For many, running races are a fulfilling way to challenge themselves physically and mentally, and to connect with a community of like-minded individuals.

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How to Write a Non-Cliche College Essay About Sports + Examples

What’s covered:, what makes a sports essay cliche.

• How To Make Your Sports Essay Unique

Great Examples of College Essays About Sports

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You’ve been brainstorming essay topics for your college applications, and you think you’ve finally found the right one: an extended metaphor likening your experience on the field with overcoming personal struggles. The problem: many other students have this same thought. 

The purpose of a college essay is to make yourself stand out as a unique individual, but when students write about sports, they often blend in. Because of that, students are usually advised to pick a different topic.

That being said, it is possible to write a non-cliche college essay about sports if you put in a little extra effort. Read along to learn how to make your sports essay different from all the other sports essays.

Sports essays are cliche when they follow a standard trajectory. Some of these trajectories include writing a story about:

• An agonizing defeat
• Forging bonds with teammates
• Overcoming adversity
• Overcoming an injury
• Refusing to quit
• Victory during a big game

Because sports essays have very similar themes and “lessons learned,” it can be difficult to make your story stand out. These trajectories also often focus too much on the sport or storyline, and not enough on the writer’s reflections and personality.

As you write your essay, try to think about what your experience says about you rather than what you learned from your experience. You are more than just one lesson you learned!

(Keep in mind that the sports essay is not the only college essay cliche. Learn about other essay cliches and how to fix them in our complete guide).

How to Make Your Sports Essay Unique

1. focus on a specific moment or reflection..

The college essay is a way for students to humanize themselves to admissions officers. You do not feel human if you are describing yourself as just another player on the field!

One important way to make your essay about you (not just about sports) is by focusing on a specific moment in time and inviting the reader to join you in that moment. Explain to the reader what it would be like to be sitting in that locker room as you questioned the values of the other players on your team. Ask your reader to sit with you on the cot in the trainer’s room as your identity was stripped away from you when they said “your body can’t take this anymore.” Bring your reader to the dinner table and involve them in your family’s conversation about how sports were affecting your mental health and your treatment of those around you.

Intense descriptions of a specific experience will evoke emotions in your reader and allow them to connect with you and feel for you.

When in doubt, avoid anything that can be covered by ESPN. On ESPN, we see the games, we see the benches, we even see the locker rooms and training rooms. Take your reader somewhere different and show them something unique.

2. Use sports to point out broader themes in your life.

The main risk when writing about sports is neglecting to write about yourself. Before you get started, think about the main values that you want to express in your sports essay. Sports are simply your avenue for telling the reader what makes you unique. 

As a test, imagine if you were a pianist. Would you be able to talk about these same values? What if you were a writer? Or a chemist? Articulating your values is the end, and sports should simply be your means.

Some values that you might want to focus on:

• Autonomy (you want to be able to set your mind to anything and achieve it on your own)
• Growth (you seek improvement constantly)
• Curiosity (you are willing to try anything once)
• Vulnerability (you aren’t afraid to fail, as long as you give it your all)
• Community (you value the feedback of others and need camaraderie to succeed)
• Craft (you think that with deliberate care, anything can be perfected)
• Responsibility (you believe that you owe something to those around you and perhaps they also owe something to you)

You can use the ESPN check again to make sure that you are using sports as an avenue to show your depth.

Things ESPN covers: how a player reacts to defeat, how injuries affect a player’s gameplay/attitude, how players who don’t normally work well together are working together on their new team.

Things ESPN doesn’t cover: the conversation that a player had with their mother about fear of death before going into a big surgery (value: family and connection), the ways that the intense pressure to succeed consumed a player to the point they couldn’t be there for the people in their life (value: supporting others and community), the body image issues that weigh on a player’s mind when playing their sport and how they overcame those (value: health and growth).

3. Turn a cliche storyline on its head.

There’s no getting around the fact that sports essays are often cliche. But there is a way to confront the cliche head-on. For example, lots of people write essays about the lessons they learned from an injury, victory, and so on, but fewer students explain how they are embracing those lessons. 

Perhaps you learned that competition is overwhelming for you and you prefer teamwork, so you switched from playing basketball to playing Dungeons & Dragons. Maybe, when your softball career ended abruptly, you had to find a new identity and that’s when you became obsessed with your flower garden and decided to pursue botany. Or maybe, you have stuck with football through it all, but your junior-year mental health struggle showed you that football should be fun and you have since started a nonprofit for local children to healthily engage with sports.

If your story itself is more cliche, try bringing readers to the present moment with you and show why the cliche matters and what it did for you. This requires a fair amount of creativity. Ensure you’re not parroting a frequently used topic by really thinking deeply to find your own unique spin.

Night had robbed the academy of its daytime colors, yet there was comfort in the dim lights that cast shadows of our advances against the bare studio walls. Silhouettes of roundhouse kicks, spin crescent kicks, uppercuts and the occasional butterfly kick danced while we sparred. She approached me, eyes narrowed with the trace of a smirk challenging me. “Ready spar!” Her arm began an upward trajectory targeting my shoulder, a common first move. I sidestepped — only to almost collide with another flying fist. Pivoting my right foot, I snapped my left leg, aiming my heel at her midsection. The center judge raised one finger. 

There was no time to celebrate, not in the traditional sense at least. Master Pollard gave a brief command greeted with a unanimous “Yes, sir” and the thud of 20 hands dropping-down-and-giving-him-30, while the “winners” celebrated their victory with laps as usual. 

Three years ago, seven-thirty in the evening meant I was a warrior. It meant standing up straighter, pushing a little harder, “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am”, celebrating birthdays by breaking boards, never pointing your toes, and familiarity. Three years later, seven-thirty in the morning meant I was nervous. 

The room is uncomfortably large. The sprung floor soaks up the checkerboard of sunlight piercing through the colonial windows. The mirrored walls further illuminate the studio and I feel the light scrutinizing my sorry attempts at a pas de bourrée, while capturing the organic fluidity of the dancers around me. “Chassé en croix, grand battement, pique, pirouette.” I follow the graceful limbs of the woman in front of me, her legs floating ribbons, as she executes what seems to be a perfect ronds de jambes. Each movement remains a negotiation. With admirable patience, Ms. Tan casts me a sympathetic glance.   

There is no time to wallow in the misery that is my right foot. Taekwondo calls for dorsiflexion; pointed toes are synonymous with broken toes. My thoughts drag me into a flashback of the usual response to this painful mistake: “You might as well grab a tutu and head to the ballet studio next door.” Well, here I am Master Pollard, unfortunately still following your orders to never point my toes, but no longer feeling the satisfaction that comes with being a third degree black belt with 5 years of experience quite literally under her belt. It’s like being a white belt again — just in a leotard and ballet slippers. 

But the appetite for new beginnings that brought me here doesn’t falter. It is only reinforced by the classical rendition of “Dancing Queen” that floods the room and the ghost of familiarity that reassures me that this new beginning does not and will not erase the past. After years spent at the top, it’s hard to start over. But surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become. In Taekwondo, we started each class reciting the tenets: honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet. 

The thing about change is that it eventually stops making things so different. After nine different schools, four different countries, three different continents, fluency in Tamil, Norwegian, and English, there are more blurred lines than there are clear fragments. My life has not been a tactfully executed, gold medal-worthy Taekwondo form with each movement defined, nor has it been a series of frappés performed by a prima ballerina with each extension identical and precise, but thankfully it has been like the dynamics of a spinning back kick, fluid, and like my chances of landing a pirouette, unpredictable. 

Why it works:

What’s especially powerful about this essay is that the author uses detailed imagery to convey a picture of what they’re experiencing, so much so that the reader is along for the ride. This works as a sports essay not only because of the language and sensory details, but also because the writer focuses on a specific moment in time, while at the same time exploring why Taekwondo is such an important part of their life.

After the emotional image is created, the student finishes their essay with valuable reflection. With the reflection, they show admissions officers that they are mature and self-aware. Self-awareness comes through with statements like “surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become” and maturity can be seen through the student’s discussion of values “honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet.” These are the kinds of comments that should find their way into a sports essay!

“Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one. 

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we compete with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

In the beginning, you might think this is another cliche sports essay about overcoming adversity. But instead, it becomes a unique statement and coming-of-age tale that reads as a suspenseful narrative. 

The author connects their experience with martial arts to larger themes in their life but manages to do so without riffing off of tried-and-true themes. Through statements like “I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was” we learn about the students values and their desire to be there for those who depend on them. 

The student also brings it full circle, demonstrating their true transformation. By using the “Same, but Different” ending technique , the student places themself in the same environment that we saw in the intro, but experiences it differently due to their actions throughout the narrative. This is very compelling!

“1…2…3…4 pirouettes! New record!” My friends cheered as I landed my turns. Pleased with my progress, I gazed down at my worn-out pointe shoes. The sweltering blisters, numbing ice-baths, and draining late-night practices did not seem so bad after all. Next goal: five turns.

For as long as I can remember, ballet, in all its finesse and glamor, had kept me driven day to day. As a child, the lithe ballerinas, donning ethereal costumes as they floated across the stage, were my motivation. While others admired Messi and Adele, I idolized Carlos Acosta, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet. 

As I devoted more time and energy towards my craft, I became obsessed with improving my technique. I would stretch for hours after class, forcing my leg one inch higher in an effort to mirror the Dance Magazine cover girls. I injured my feet and ruined pair after pair of pointe shoes, turning on wood, cement, and even grass to improve my balance as I spun. At competitions, the dancers with the 180-degree leg extensions, endless turns, and soaring leaps—the ones who received “Bravos!” from the roaring audience—further pushed me to refine my skills and perfect my form. I believed that, with enough determination, I would one day attain their level of perfection. Reaching the quadruple-pirouette milestone only intensified my desire to accomplish even more. 

My efforts seemed to have come to fruition two summers ago when I was accepted to dance with Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet at their renowned New York City summer intensive. I walked into my first session eager to learn from distinguished ballet masters and worldly dancers, already anticipating my improvement. Yet, as I danced alongside the accomplished ballerinas, I felt out of place. Despite their clean technique and professional training, they did not aim for glorious leg extensions or prodigious leaps. When they performed their turn combinations, most of them only executed two turns as I attempted four. 

“Dancers, double-pirouettes only.” 

Taken aback and confused, I wondered why our teacher expected so little from us. The other ballerinas seemed content, gracing the studio with their simple movements. 

As I grew closer with my Moscow roommates, I gradually learned that their training emphasized the history of the art form instead of stylistic tricks. Rather than show off their physical ability, their performances aimed to convey a story, one that embodied the rich culture of ballet and captured both the legacy of the dancers before them and their own artistry. As I observed my friends more intently in repertoire class, I felt the pain of the grief-stricken white swan from Swan Lake, the sass of the flirtatious Kitri from Don Quijote, and I gradually saw what I had overlooked before. My definition of talent had been molded by crowd-pleasing elements—whirring pirouettes, gravity-defying leaps, and mind-blowing leg extensions. This mindset slowly stripped me from the roots of my passion and my personal connection with ballet. 

With the Bolshoi, I learned to step back and explore the meaning behind each step and the people behind the scenes. Ballet carries history in its movements, from the societal values of the era to each choreographer’s unique flair. As I uncovered the messages behind each pirouette, kick, and jump, my appreciation for ballet grew beyond my obsession with raw athleticism and developed into a love for the art form’s emotive abilities in bridging the dancers with the audience. My journey as an artist has allowed me to see how technical execution is only the means to a greater understanding between dancer and spectator, between storyteller and listener. The elegance and complexity of ballet does not revolve around astonishing stunts but rather the evocative strength and artistry manifested in the dancer, in me. It is the combination of sentiments, history, tradition, and passion that has allowed ballet and its lessons of human connection to become my lifestyle both on and off stage.

This essay is about lessons. While the author is a dancer, this narrative isn’t really about ballet, per se — it’s about the author’s personal growth. It is purposefully reflective as the student shows a nice character arc that begins with an eager young ballerina and ends with a reflection on their past. The primary strength of this essay is the honesty and authenticity that the student approaches it with.

In the end, the student turns a cliche on its head as they embrace the idea of overcoming adversity and demonstrate how the adversity, in this case, was their own stereotypes about their art. It’s beautiful!

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite. 

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin. 

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

This essay uses the idea of sports to explore a more profound topic—growing through relationships. They really embrace using sports as an avenue to tell the reader about a specific experience that changed the way they approach the world. 

The emphasis on relationships is why this essay works well and doesn’t fall into a cliche. The narrator grows not because of their experience with track but because of their relationship with their coach, who inspired them to evolve and become a leader.

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Race Entry Student Scholarship

Race Entry is an online race registration company that supports students of all disciplines who pursue self-improvement and enhanced health through race preparation and participation. Annually Race Entry is offering a $500 scholarship to the winner of our annual “Race to Inspire” essay contest. Many people have different reasons for running in a race. We want to hear & share your inspiring story.

Eligibility:

Participants must be able to verify enrollment for college at an accredited university inside the USA during the fall semester of the same year the essay is submitted.

How to Apply:

Whether you ran a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or marathon, write a short essay explaining what inspired you to run, what challenges you faced, and what you learned through the experience. Prepare an essay sharing your race story between 1,000 and 2,000 words in length. Send your essay to [email protected] with “Race to Inspire – Scholarship” in the subject line – All applications must be submitted between January 1 and August 15 to be included in the contest of the same year. The contest winner will be notified on or before October 1.

Scholarship Terms

Race Entry is committed to protecting the privacy of all our visitors. By using www.raceentry.com and submitting a scholarship application, you grant all rights and ownership of submitted content to Race Entry, regardless of whether your entry is selected as a winner. Race Entry reserves the right to publish submitted work at the conclusion of the entry period in any manner Race Entry sees fit. Selection of winning submissions is entirely at the discretion of Race Entry. Each scholarship winner will be contacted by Race Entry via the same email address that was used to submit the application. Winner(s) will be confirmed ONLY after providing proof of enrollment in the form of a copy of a tuition bill OR letter of proof from the accredited United States college or university at which the winner(s) is enrolled. Winners will be publicly announced on RaceEntry.com, and Race Entry will mail the winner(s) their check.

2023 Scholarship Winner

Our 2023 Scholarship goes to Antoine Caleb Lucas from Jonesboro, Georgia

Below is his submission:, discovering my stride: a journey of resilience and triumph.

In the urban sprawl of Atlanta, Georgia, where the rhythm of life can sometimes feel like a perpetual sprint, I found my stride. As a dedicated gym rat, a passionate baseball player, and an avid boxing enthusiast, the world of sports has always been my sanctuary. However, my journey as a runner was born from a desire to transcend my comfort zone and embrace challenges head-on. My name is A. Caleb Lucas, and my race story is not just about running; it's a testament to the power of determination and the pursuit of growth.

The seed of inspiration to run was planted in my mind after witnessing the euphoria that accompanies crossing a finish line. Whether it was a 5K, a 10K, or even a full marathon, the sight of runners pushing their limits, driven by their own goals, was awe-inspiring. But what truly kindled the spark within me was a desire to channel the same spirit into my own life.

However, the path to becoming a runner was not without its share of hurdles. Despite my affinity for various sports, running was an entirely different arena. I had to confront my own doubts and insecurities, especially as someone who had always considered himself a team player. The solitary nature of running posed an intimidating challenge, but I was determined to overcome it.

I embarked on my running journey as a proud resident of Atlanta, Georgia, a city pulsating with vibrant energy. Every stride through its streets, every early morning jog in its parks, brought me closer to a new facet of my city that I had never truly appreciated before. The camaraderie of the running community, the collective pursuit of personal records, and the unspoken encouragement exchanged in nods and waves added a layer of depth to my connection with my surroundings.

Living in a city known for its athletic prowess, I was no stranger to competitive sports. Baseball had honed my reflexes and strategic thinking, while boxing had sculpted my discipline and resilience. Yet, running introduced a different dimension to my understanding of athleticism—a mental and emotional challenge that went beyond physical prowess. The moments of doubt during training, the determination to push through the infamous "runner's wall," and the satisfaction of surpassing my own limits unveiled a level of self-discovery I hadn't anticipated.

The cityscape of Atlanta transformed into a personal playground, each corner and pavement holding memories of my struggles and triumphs. As the sun kissed the horizon during early morning runs, and the city lights painted a shimmering backdrop during late-night jogs, I realized that running was not just about physical exertion; it was a journey within, an exploration of my own capacity for growth.

Chasing personal records became my new source of motivation. I learned that, just like in baseball and boxing, consistent effort and perseverance yielded results. Whether it was pushing myself to shave a few seconds off my 5K time or conquering the grueling hills of the city during a half marathon, each achievement reaffirmed the importance of resilience, patience, and unwavering commitment.

The challenges I faced were not confined to the pavement. Balancing my dedication to running with my academic pursuits and work commitments demanded meticulous time management and discipline. Being a gym rat, a baseball player, and a boxer had already taught me about the delicate equilibrium between different facets of life, but running added another layer of complexity. Yet, paradoxically, running also became my anchor—a routine that provided clarity and structure amidst the chaos of daily life.

As I prepared to take on the biggest challenge of my running journey—a full marathon—I couldn't help but reflect on the parallels between running and the values instilled in me through my other sports. Just as I had learned to read an opponent's moves in boxing and anticipate a pitcher's strategy in baseball, I was now deciphering the language of my own body, understanding its cues, and strategizing to cross the 26.2-mile finish line.

The marathon day arrived, and the energy in the air was electrifying. My heart pounded with a mix of excitement and nervousness as I stood at the starting line, surrounded by fellow runners who had their own stories to tell. Each step, each mile, was a testament to the journey I had undertaken—from a gym rat with a love for team sports to a runner embracing the solitude of the road.

As the miles stretched on, I battled fatigue, doubts, and the temptation to slow down. But the unwavering support of the running community and the memory of every sunrise and cityscape I had conquered fueled my determination. The journey was a rollercoaster of emotions—moments of euphoria, moments of exhaustion, and moments of profound introspection.

When I crossed the finish line of that marathon, a rush of emotions flooded over me. It wasn't just about completing the race; it was about conquering the challenges, doubts, and uncertainties that had once held me back. I had transformed from a curious observer of running events to a participant who had embraced the grit, the heart, and the soul of the sport.

As I reflect on my evolution from a gym rat to a passionate runner, I am reminded that the essence of a race goes beyond the finish line—it's about the story that unfolds along the way. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to embark on this journey of self-discovery, resilience, and personal growth. My race story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the boundless potential that lies within us all. And just as the city of Atlanta continues to inspire and challenge me, I am eager to explore new horizons, conquer new races, and discover new dimensions of myself through the rhythm of my strides.

2022 Scholarship Winner

Our 2022 Scholarship goes to Emily Kohnen from Creve Coeur, Missouri

Below is her submission:.

Running wasn’t a fundamental building block in my childhood. Quite the opposite was true. I played sports as a child but never took any too serious. I started playing ice hockey when I was in elementary school, close to the end of fourth grade. I was usually the only girl on my team and the boys had no issue letting me know they didn’t like that. After playing through middle school, it became clear that the male body was speeding up a lot faster than mine and I became discouraged. I turned down an offer to play for an all-girls team, and eventually I quit altogether. It was then that my sedentary lifestyle took over. Ironically enough, this is exactly when running became a part of my family.

This is around the time that my mom started to take running seriously. I had picked up my lifestyle tactics from my family and she felt we needed a change. She found some friends and they signed up for a half-marathon. The only thing is, the half was sold out! My mom decided the full didn’t look too daunting and signed up anyways. She had never run even a half, and she and her friends decided to run a full marathon.

I didn’t realize it then, but this was a pivotal moment for me too. Seeing my mom become so dedicated to running was inspiring. The even more inspiring aspect for me was her discipline day in and day out. I became proud to say, “my mom runs marathons!” My family began travelling for races and cheering my mom and her friends on along the different courses. She spoke to how much clarity she found while on her runs. She only worries about being better than the day before, not better than another runner. Running became a part of all of our lives that day.

I have come to value the ability for a child to observe their parent taking time each day to manage their health, both physical and mental. Knowing my mom had already went on a run and showered by the time she woke me up for school really impacted the way I view my health and aided in my understanding of discipline.

After a couple of years without playing hockey, I decided I needed to make a change for myself too. I was tired of coming home from school and watching reruns of Reba for hours. Don’t get me wrong - Reba was a great show, but it didn’t provide me with much of anything after some time. I decided to pick up soccer and began playing for my high school team. I was an average player. I didn’t make the most goals or play the best defense. I made two goals in the two years I played! I was just happy to be a part of a team and felt satisfied with my dedication to a sport. However, at the end of my second year I sustained a pretty massive injury.

In the first fifteen minutes of a soccer game two hours away from home, I broke my leg. It ended up being a compound fracture of my tibia and a complete break of my fibula. I will spare you some of the details, but short I thought the sound I heard was my shin guard against a girl’s shoe. I tried to stand but laid right back down after seeing my foot facing the wrong direction. A trip to a local emergency room, a medical transport back home, a night in another emergency room, and a surgery later, my leg was back in one piece (sort of). I had an internal fixator placed into my leg that is held in by five screws. I had never gone through a recovery for an injury before and really took a mental hit. I couldn’t do anything during the summer and relied on everyone for help, which I hated. In an attempt to give me something to look forward too, my mom convinced me to run a half marathon with her once I was recovered. And run we did.

I took to heart her training regimen. During the week, we ran before my first class started at 7:15 a.m. On the weekends we managed our longer runs through the Midwest winter. We trained and trained. Race day came around just two days shy of the one-year anniversary of my injury. In one year, I managed what is hopefully my biggest injury and turned it around to run my first half marathon!

I have run that same race every year since (excluding the peak COVID year) and have managed to beat my time each year. I have trained and travelled for races during the school year and summer. I have raced in Kentucky, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. Trail running has become a favorite of mine and something I want to expand in my future. This upcoming school year I will be training for my first full marathon. My race is on October 2, in my hometown. I can’t wait to have my family and friends cheering me along the course.

Running, especially not on an organized team, is really challenging during the school year. I have classes at different times, work a part time job, and juggle other school related items such as the honors program. It some strange way, I feel that when I run, I become more organized in other areas of my life. Running is so much more of a mental game than a physical one usually. Making time to run forces me to start my day out strong, allows me time to think and reflection on the previous day or mentally plan out the coming days, and has connected me with so many people. I have been encouraged to work harder, go further, and be better because of my running and the community it has brought me. I am a better person for becoming a runner.

2021 Scholarship Winner

Our 2021 Scholarship goes to Devon Cobos Garcia from Jacksonville Beach, Florida

My father was an avid runner. Having grown up in Belchertown, Massachusetts, he had dreamed of running the Boston Marathon since he was a child. The Boston Marathon, said simply, is just one of those races; one of those races that runners put on their Bucket List; one of those races for which runners constantly strive to have qualifying times; one of those races that brings athletes and their families from all over the world together for a common goal. The Boston Marathon, for many runners, is the ultimate race. My dad talked about the Boston Marathon constantly, and worked hard towards qualification. He trained heavily by running, swimming, and biking to ensure he was physically well-rounded and ready for his moment on the starting line. He ran and biked and swam and ran some more, grinding away and staying true to his training; he was quite successful with this grind, a grind that many others had trouble keeping up with, a grind for which he was gratuitously praised.

The training was paying off; my dad was making good time with his workout runs, and he started signing up for qualifying races. He was finally going to do it, he would say; he was finally going to earn a spot in the Boston! Everything seemed fine on the surface, and he was on par with his goal; that is, until an unsettling decline in his mental health took over his life. He fell ill quickly, as well as quietly. The illness was something I barely noticed until it was too late; throughout my childhood my dad had always been keen on hiding any struggles he was dealing with, which made it difficult for me to pinpoint that something was incredibly wrong. On a dreadful night in August of 2017, I received a phone call that would forever change my life; my father was gone, from a swift and permanent decision he felt he had no choice but to make.

My father and I didn't run together, as we both felt and agreed it was more of a personal practice, but we would always talk about our runs, workouts, and races. He was my biggest cheerleader, and though I was never able to tell him, he ultimately inspired me to run my first marathon back in February of 2018, six months after his passing. Running a marathon was not something I ever thought I could accomplish, even having run multiple half marathons over the years, including my favorite and most challenging race, the Midnight Sun half marathon in Tromsø, Norway in the Arctic Circle. Losing one of my favorite people in such a traumatic way changed how I viewed many things in this life, including, and especially, fear; I felt I had lost everything when I lost him, so fear was no longer an emotion I genuinely acknowledged. I remember the night I made up my mind to commit to running 26.2 miles; in that moment, as I was jogging through the neighborhood where I grew up, my heart began to swell at the thought of running not only for myself, but for my dad. I vividly imagined him running by my side, something we never actually did together, but could now do, spiritually, any time I needed his encouragement. This image of us running a marathon together changed my entire perspective on my abilities to run such a distance, and I began to dream, just as my dad once did, about eventually qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I thought about how amazing it would be to cross that finish line, for the both of us, and how healing this would be for me and the grief that was holding me hostage.

My training was demanding, but successful, and the day came for me to stand at the starting line for my first marathon. It was The Donna, an annual run to end breast cancer and a huge race that was born and raised in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. It was February and the weather was cool and crisp, the sun barely visible through the overcast; it was perfect running weather, especially for how unpredictable Florida's weather can be on any given day. I felt amazing, energized and prepared, and was ready for the strenuous hours ahead. "You trained for this," I told myself; "you're ready." As the gun went off and my wave started, I was giddy with excitement and riddled with nerves; I had to keep reminding myself to maintain a slow, steady pace for the first few miles, as to not let the excitement cause me to gas out later in the course. I held a pleasant, powerful tempo and felt strong and controlled. I smiled inside and out, silently extending my gratitude to the cheering crowds. Unfortunately, my strength and good fortune didn't last; what felt like out of nowhere, an unfamiliar sensation in the lateral side of my right knee began to form. By only Mile 7, a dull tension was fully present in my leg, and it slowly increased in intensity as I continued. Knowing I still had slightly less than 20 miles to run, I became aware that this wasn't going to go as well as I initially felt it would. By Mile 16, I was in agony.

None of this occurred in my training; I had easily run 20 miles alone, nonstop, without water, without electrolytes or protein or other replenishments, without the race environment, and still felt incredible (I do admit, however, that it wasn't smart of me to run in such conditions). With each painful step I felt a deep and intense sadness, accepting the fact that I was clearly injured, and most likely wouldn't finish the race in a decent enough time to qualify for the Boston. By Mile 21 I had to stop running completely, as the pain was too much to bear; determined to cross the finish line on my own two legs, because I’m stubborn just like my father, I walked the remaining 5.2 miles. As people ran, as well as walked, past me, and as people hollered from the streets and their houses to cheer us on with their signs, water stations, fruit stations, and small parties, tears streamed down my face for the devastation of having worked so hard for this and to not finish the way I had hoped. I did, in fact, walk across the finish line, with bystanders yelling at me and encouraging me to run; they meant well, as they had no idea how much I was suffering, both physically and emotionally, but it was a difficult moment to endure. I went straight to the First Aid tent for assistance and immediately started crying; not just from the pain, but from the feeling of complete and utter failure, which was all I could call it at the time (I now know it most definitely wasn’t a failure). I felt as though I had not only let myself down, but I wasn't able to run the way I wanted to for my dad, and I certainly wasn't going to be running in the Boston Marathon any time soon.

I allowed myself to feel the way I needed to feel during that time, especially the guilt, as well as in so many little moments that occurred after losing him. Thankfully grief, at least at that point in my life, wasn't something to which I was accustomed, at least not in such a piercing and personal way. Losing my father to suicide was truly was the most difficult and painful thing I have ever been through, but it was the one event in my life that set me free and gave me the grit to go after what I wanted from myself and my life. I eventually learned to forgive myself for missing the signs of him struggling, and for somehow injuring myself during the one goal I wanted to achieve back then; following that, I felt it was also time to let go of my being so hard on myself regarding my efforts, which is something I’ve always battled. I began to create a new life and pursue my goals with a healthier perspective, and have since given myself a little more grace, the kind of grace my father would've given me had he been there on the day I finished my first marathon.

Now, four years since his death, I have changed careers and currently practice as a Post Anesthesia Care Unit registered nurse; I moved to New York City for a couple of years and fought through the pandemic as a Covid ICU nurse; I was able to travel the world; I met the love of my life who is now my husband; and I’m starting my first semester in pursuit of my Ph.D. in Nursing this coming August. In keeping up with this busy schedule, I haven't run a single race since The Donna; and maybe a part of me also felt an essence of fear creeping in again after such a delicate event. But, my dad's spirit is still with me, each and every day, and I'm reminded of what he, and his passing, taught me. I knew my love for running wouldn't stay dormant for long, and I know how resilient and motivated we runners can be. It excites me to say that I've just signed up for my next half marathon, the first one in many years; I’m running the Urban Bourbon in Louisville, Kentucky this coming October. It feels like the perfect start to getting back in tune with my marathon training, as I know my heart is ready to try for another 26.2 in the future. Whether I happen to qualify for the Boston Marathon with my next full marathon or I simply make whichever one I choose my final one, I know my father will be by my side to cheer me on and send his encouragement, just as he always has and always will.

2020 Scholarship Winner

Our 2020 Scholarship goes to Alexandra “Aley” Schiessl from Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Everything hurt: my heart, my mind, my legs, my neck. It felt easier to lay in bed or stare blankly at the computer screen at work than exert any kind of effort into- well, anything. My only sister had died suddenly of an accidental overdose. Worse, a court case was becoming involved. I despaired, certain that the pain was going to be unending. Navigating grief while also living with bipolar II disorder made me into a ball of frayed nerves. I went to therapy. I was outspoken about my struggles and tried to reach out to others. Still, I felt incredibly alone, and nothing I did made me feel anything. I was unhappy in my relationship; my job felt like a dead end; I was slowly realizing, through the haze of grief, that my life felt despondent. For a long time in my life I felt like I deserved to be unhappy. But my sister’s death was what truly broke my back. I could no longer accept these horrible feelings as being a constant. As odd as it sounds, it took losing my only sister to realize that I only have one shot at life. And here I was, stuck in a cycle that was both comfortable and hurtful. Slowly, I felt like I was waking up and clearing my mind of what my depressed brain told me. I deserved to be happy. In February 2019, I finally found the strength to change. I broke off my engagement, moved back into my parents’ home, and applied to go back to college after a four-year hiatus.

After this complete change in my life, my father- who has been trail running since I was in middle school- signed me up for a race in Moab, Utah. This racewould be my first 5K in more than a decade. I was incredibly nervous. Besides walks and hikes, I didn’t exercise at all. Somehow I had convinced myself that Iwould never be an athlete- certainly not a runner. Not only would it be my first race, but it was going to be in a completely different environment thansoutheastern Wisconsin! But I wasn’t going to let my dad down, and I knew this race was presenting me with an incredible adventure. Determined, I took to runningthe streets around my parents’ house. I was too nervous to hit the trails. What if, somehow, I failed?

Here was my depression and grief roaring at me: you will fail, you don’t deserve any of this. A voice shouted back: I can do this, and I will. That voice wastiny and shook with each word, but it was there. I laced up my shoes and dug up a pair of shorts. I found some music and went outside into the bright springsunshine and ran. Whether it was a mile or three miles, I don’t recall. Regardless I felt triumphant. The little voice inside me was elated. I wondered what mysister would say if she saw me walk back in the house, soaked in sweat and smiling.

Sometime after her death, one of my sister’s friends shared something with me. It was an email my sister had written to herself when I was in middle school andshe was in third or fourth grade. The email was written in curly-cued font and every bit the voice of a nine-year old growing up in the early 2000s. She wasbored, she was going to find something to do. It must have been summer. “Aley n dad just got back from a race,” she noted. I was transported back to that timewhen my dad and I would wake up early in the morning to get to our races. My sister even did a few. Filled with nostalgia and sadness, I wept over that email. Iwas going to run for myself and for her.

After a couple weeks pounding the pavement I was getting bored. I had to eventually wander onto the dirt trails and through the prairies. Soon enough I waschallenging myself on an eight-mile trail full of challenging hills (with colorful names such as Asthma Hill and Gut Buster), creeping tree roots, and rockyterrain. Week after week I returned. Slowly, with nothing but the sound of my breathing, birdsong, and the wind, I found myself reflecting on the death of mysister and all the changes in my life. My sister is gone and I never had a chance to fully build our relationship. She won’t be physically present at my weddingor be an aunt to my children. Every time I realize this I feel a pain in my chest, a fresh wound, a sudden reminder that I’ll never see her face again. But in thewoods, slipping through mud and squinting in the sunshine, I felt her presence. I believed she was proud of me. We both struggled for so long with beingcomfortable in our own skin. Here I was, finally coming to terms with my body and the essence of myself.

I built up my confidence so much that I completed three 5Ks and a half marathon before I even flew out to Utah with my father. Those races raised my spirit and confidence to levels I’ve never known before. Finishing the half marathon was huge for someone who was once sure she could never accomplish such a feat. It was also at that half marathon that I became engaged to a man that shared my newfound zest for life and for trail running. I was coming to understand what it felt like to truly live and not simply to exist. The time spent in various terrains allowed me time to not only reflect, but to absorb the beauty of the land around me and my place in the world. Somehow, being surrounded by tall trees and imposing sandstone arches helps me remember how fragile and small I am- but also how incredibly capable and strong I am. I no longer run away from my feelings. Instead, I carry them with me, processing and feeling and healing amongst the natural earth that I too will one day return to. And through it all- the injuries, the sunburn, the frustration, the joy- my sister is with me, cheering me on.

2019 Scholarship Winner

Our 2019 Scholarship goes to William L. Williams from Fairfax, Virginia

To run is to feel. Or at least that was the reasoning I presented to my mother when she demanded to know why I kept skipping school to roam and wander the dilapidated corners of my hometown. Being that it was the middle of my junior year in high school and my family was already 4 months into homelessness, I found myself desperate to objectify the muddled feelings I had brewing and bubbling deep within me. Spending 4 months in a roach infested, trifling, and insufferable motel with bold pedophiles, domestic violence, blatant child abuse/neglect, and thieves was enough to make any sane individual want to scream or run as far away as possible no matter the consequences. However, there were strict policies in the motel against any “rambunctious or suspicious” behavior. This meant that you weren’t allowed to be loud with excitement or spend your time laughing into the night with your many brothers and sisters or yell out in pain from an injury. If you expressed yourself in any way someone would come pounding on your door with a solemn PROMISE they would have you kicked out by the morning. As if the pressures of being in the International Baccalaureate program weren’t enough, every day I was tormented by the fact that my family was one noise complaint away from quite literally living on the streets – no matter if we had been coughing up the $200 it took to stay in our cramped one room space (who knew how expensive it was to be homeless!).

Even though we slept with three people in each bed, my mom always told me, “be grateful we have somewhere warm to sleep this winter,”. Yet, I didn’t feel very grateful. I wanted to be free from the constant shushing and the clamoring quarter operated washing machines and being too scared to go to the bathroom barefoot, thus risking being greeted by your friendly neighborhood cockroach. I wanted to run away. So that’s exactly what I did. When my mom dropped me off for school one morning and I began the long journey towards my secondary personal prison, I felt myself being swallowed by all of the anxieties that the motel constantly caused me. I felt heavy and miserable. I let those dark thoughts corrupt the possibilities of better days and when I looked up, I realized that I was nowhere near my school. It was 12 pm and I had walked almost two miles just from allowing myself to mull in my own thoughts. Though it was deafeningly loud outside from the hustles and bustles of my city, it felt good to have a space to just think and reflect in peace. On my walk back home, I felt like I finally had a way I could remove the barriers that homelessness had placed around my true being. Within just a few hours, I found more peace than school could ever provide. This became a routine for me – an outlet for the constant depression and despair I had gotten used to feeling. This was until I was slammed with the worst news a person that had just tasted free will could hear. If I missed another day of school I would be failed automatically. That meant no more playing hooky for my morning jogs. I was shattered. My teachers noticed. My parents noticed. I had lost all motivation and my grades paid the price.

That was until my Spanish teacher slapped a registration form for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5k on my desk one tiring Tuesday morning. She was a 2-time breast cancer survivor and fighting her 3rd battle. “I want all of my little chickees to be there cheering me on. That includes you William. No excuses!” I’m not sure how she knew how much I needed that push, but to this day I thank God for instilling her with such faith and love in me. My teacher wrote a countdown on the board every day as we were all gearing up for the big day. Seeing her come to class Monday through Friday with a giant smile on her face despite how weak her chemo treatments made her was the motivation I needed to get back to what I loved – running.

I knew that it would be a challenge to break the crippling habits of sloth and dread I had taken on; but when I felt like my body was too sore to train anymore, I would just think about how strong my teacher had to be everyday to give her students the best pieces of her no matter how much she was hurting. When I felt like the pressures and stressors that came from living in a hotel were controlling my thoughts again, I’d run. I’d dig deep within myself and borrow the strength of my teacher to push myself to run. Though I didn’t have access to a Planet Fitness like my peers, all I really needed was my shoes and my headphones. That was the least I could do for my own sanity and to give my teacher the support she deserved. I knew that my family certainly couldn’t afford to pay the $30 it took to participate in the race, so I did odd jobs for people in the motel and foraged the laundry room for spare quarters on wash days. I wasn’t going to let a small thing like money be the hurdle that stopped me from achieving my goal.

When the day of the race finally arrived, I walked up to my school beaming with excitement. On the bus ride to the site of the race, everyone was buzzing happily as they painted each other’s faces with pink stripes and pink ribbons. We laughed, we sang, and we talked about how hard we had trained. Everyone glared in awe at how big my calves had gotten over the weeks. It was strange to allow myself to feel joy and genuine support after months of forced silence and discouragement at the motel. I enjoyed warming up my muscles with my peers at the start line. There were women, men, and children of all ages lined up alongside us. No one thought of any limitations that could hold them back from finishing or the troubles that waited for them at home. We all understood that the goal was to keep pushing forward as we raced for the cure together. With a loud BOOM! everyone took off laughing and smiling. Once I took off, I felt like I was running with purpose. For once, I was running toward something instead of running away from everything. When I felt tired or defeated, there was a volunteer dressed head to toe in pink ready to give me a cup of water or a high five. Some of the cheerleaders at the local high schools volunteered to be cheer squads with their bright pink pom poms. I knew I’d be sore and sweaty at the end, but it felt good to run while fueled with determination. I could feel myself sweating away my miseries and fears. I finished the race at about the same time as my teacher and we gave each other scarily tight hugs as we celebrated our victories. I truly felt that moment was a metaphor for the support and motivation that we gave each other as we fought our personal battles every day.

Not long after, my family was fortunate enough to move out of that motel and into a home of our own. Even though my environment no longer oppresses me, I still make sure that I get my daily run in. Now I run for a different reason. I run because I know that I have beautiful opportunities that I must run towards. I no longer run as a way to escape because I know that there are people who support me no matter how big my battles may be. Though I am not a fan of the circumstances, I am so thankful that I was introduced to the joy of running and I will continue to use it as a tool for my healing.

2018 Scholarship Winner

Our 2018 Scholarship goes to Carissa McAfee from Kansas City, Missouri

Running was an activity I did not enjoy. It took a long time, it was hot and sweaty, and I was miserable. My eighth-grade year, to my horror and dismay, my coach placed me in the two miles purely to torture me (actually, she thought I would be good at it, but oh! The horror!). I did a decent job, but I was miserable! I vowed to never run more than four-hundred meters every again.

Meanwhile, I was working with a student I have always been close with, who I will call William. William has severe cerebral palsy to the degree where he is quadriplegic and mute. For the longest time, he could only converse through yes-or-no questions, and never had the chance to express himself. However, his sixth-grade year, he received a computerized device that had an eye-gaze. What did this device do? Well, it allowed him to leaf through a system and ‘select’ words so he could speak. While socializing with William one day, I waited patiently while he typed out a five-word sentence on his device; Carissa, I really missed you. Upon the completion of the sentence, he began sweating profusely and seemed tired. That’s when I learned that the amount of effort it takes for him to type one sentence is equal to the amount of effort it would take me to run one mile.

I was absolutely floored. How could something like talking, something I absolutely took for granted, be so difficult? I truly struggled with this information. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. I had to do something. One day I even tried to not talk at all – to the utter frustration of my teachers. I socialized more and more with William, learning that we could work on his ‘endurance’. One day, in the middle of summer, it hit me. Maybe I could run for William. If it took us the same amount of effort, surely there was something I could do to level with him, to make the universe seem fairer. So, I signed up for cross country. Every time I would talk with William, I would count the number of sentences he had made and would run that distance in miles after practices and on weekends. When I started to win races, I would give the medals to William. But as hard as I worked to level myself with him, I realized there wasn’t a good way to. People don’t tend to realize how lucky they are to be able to achieve something as seemingly simple as breathing and speaking, and I didn’t know how to spread that message.

It wasn’t until I was a junior in high school that I came up with a better idea. My business club decided to host a color-run-fundraiser to raise money for the March of Dimes foundation. I was planning on running the race in William’s name, just as I had always done, but then it hit me; William was affected by cerebral palsy, a condition caused by a premature birth (the focal point of March of Dimes). Why not celebrate the individuals cherished by March of Dimes during the race? I called up every child in the school district affected by cerebral palsy (there were four!) and asked their parents for permission to take them through the fun run. Then, I gathered volunteers willing to help me in the journey. We agreed to help get the kiddos to the starting line, push them through the 5K, earn them a medal, and clean the wheelchairs afterwards. Finally, the day of the race came upon us.

It was a chilly September morning, and William was very nervous. He had never gone very fast in his wheelchair, in fact he had never run before at all. To go faster than one mile an hour would be totally new to him. When the race started, he was very nervous – his whole body was clenched in fear. So, while the other wheelchair racers sped ahead, William and I pulled off and had a heart-to-heart. If he wanted to race, then we would. We would go as fast or slow as he wanted, and we could stop whenever. We could do the race out of order, we could only go through one color, or we could stop right then and there. Together, we decided to keep going. We made it through the first color – green. Smiles were wide on the color-thrower’s faces as they carefully sprinkled green all around William, being careful to avoid his face. I asked William if we were good to go and he nodded – off we went, up a huge hill! My calved burned the entire time, but I knew I had to get this kid up the hill for the both of us. As we went through the race, we went faster and faster, getting doused in every color of the rainbow, and William’s smile grew bigger and bigger. At the last hundred yards, he was finally squealing with excitement – as we passed other runners, and as we went through the very last color. We finally cross the finish line, and William was absolutely elated.

This time, it was different from me running a race and giving him the medal. This time, his courage to pursue something he never experienced before earned him that medal – it was all him. His bravery was stupendous, and I finally realized how much I truly asked of him. I was so proud of him, and absolutely nothing can take that feeling away.

It’s been three years since that race, and I still think it was the most important race I’ve ever run. I know the wheelchair-race has continued at my high school and become a tradition for all the kids affected by paralysis of any kind, and that makes my heart truly smile. I still run for William, only now I determine my mileage by email. William has been working hard on being able to send entire emails while I’m away at college. Sometimes it takes him a few days, but all things considered I don’t mind. I still count up the sentences and use them to determine how much I run every week.

William really taught me how much we take for granted, and I wish more people would learn that same lesson I did. William’s wheelchair tends to scare people away, so socialization is very difficult for him, even with his ever-improving endurance. My career goal is to work with special-needs kids now. I think that if I’m able to teach others about how special these kiddos truly are, and if I can give them more chances to show the world what they can do, maybe people will stop focusing so much on what they can’t do. After all, like Dr. Seuss said, if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid. Nobody deserves to think that they are stupid, or not worth an experience because it’s too difficult to deliver to them. It’s time the rest of the world learned that too.

2017 Scholarship Winner

Our 2017 Scholarship goes to Erin Stenzel from Washington, DC

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” Those are the words that continue to inspire and motivate me as I complete my lofty goal of running a half marathon in every state and Washington, DC. Over the past five years, I have run 15 half marathons, as well as numerous 5Ks and 10Ks. From the Golden State of California, to the peachy-keen state of Georgia, I have seen some truly amazing places. With 36 half marathons left, and an average of 3 half marathons per year, I am well on track to finishing my goal by 2029.

When people ask why I chose this ambitious endeavor, I often give lackluster responses, such as “It’s a great way to see the United States!” or “I love running half marathons!” While those statements may be true, I use them as a defense mechanism to avoid the harsh criticism and judgement that I am afraid I would face if I were to share the real reasons. The truth is, I embarked on this journey to pull myself out of a deep-rooted depression that I found myself in after spending a restless night on a cold hard jail cell floor. After hitting rock-bottom that night, I had a choice – either continue down a path of self-destruction or forge a new path of reflection and self-discovery. I ultimately chose the latter and developed a passion for running along the way. As I continue my journey running across the United States, I want to use my story to show that your mistakes do not define you as a person.

So how did a former straight-A student, goody two-shoes end up in jail? The short run-of-the-mill story is a DUI. However, my situation was far worse than having one drink too many and teetering on the edge of the legal limit. I was highly intoxicated and crashed into a construction zone while merging onto the highway. I blacked out right before the crash, and did not even grasp the gravity of the situation until a construction worker was banging on my window asking if I was ok. Although I totaled my car, I walked away without a single scratch on me and was fortunate enough to not have injured anyone else. Police eventually arrived at the scene, and gave me a series of sobriety tests that I was destined to fail. I was hauled off to jail in handcuffs, and my life was changed forever as I knew it.

I spent the night in jail internalizing what had led me to rock bottom. The most obvious, was drinking and driving. But why did I drink so much that night? Why did I choose to drive? And why was I so careless with my life? The answer to those questions was depression. The debilitating effects of depression and mental illness permeate my family, and unfortunately, I was not spared those genetic traits. In the months leading up to the crash in the summer of 2010, I was going through an extremely difficult time, mourning the loss of a friend. At that time in my life, I had not come to terms or understood the symptoms of my recurring depression and turned to alcohol to cope and self-medicate. The more I drank, the further I fell deeper into my depression, until I eventually hit rock bottom with the DUI.

The consequences of a DUI were extremely costly. I depleted my savings, lost my driver’s license for a year, and had to attend a series of AA meetings and alcohol education classes. In addition, I lost my freedom, independence, and the self-reliance that I prided myself on. While receiving the DUI would end up being a blessing in disguise, I spent the first few months of my probation hating myself. I moved in with my dad to save money, and had to rely on family and friends to be my chauffer.

I started to see light at the end of the tunnel with the help of my mother. Two days a week, she selflessly drove 30 minutes to pick me up and take me to the gym. She let me spend hours there, as I worked out my stress and anxiety exploring different weight and cardio machines. In the beginning of our gym excursions, I despised running and avoided the treadmill at all costs. However, after a particularly hard day at work, I decided to challenge myself and was surprised that I could run a mile without stopping. From that day on, I kept pushing myself to run faster and farther. As my mileage and speed increased, so did my confidence. Six months into my probation, I decided it was time to move out.

My roommate and I found an apartment close to a metro station outside of Washington, DC so that I could regain my independence. One day when walking to the metro station, I discovered a running trail called 4 Mile Run. At the time, I had only run on a treadmill but decided it would be a good way to explore my new neighborhood. The next day after work, I put on my running shoes and ventured out for what I thought was an out-and-back four-mile run. Unfortunately, I was sorely mistaken and found myself on an 8-mile run, where I was racing against nightfall in the woods. I joked with my friends that it was a 6-mile run and 2-mile walk of shame. Although I was being modest, I knew I had accomplished something to be proud of.

From that day forward, I was on the road to recovery. Running became my outlet for managing my depression and feeling good about myself again. Growing up, I dreaded running the mile in P.E., and here I was running several miles a day. While I still felt the stigma of having a DUI, each month I was getting better as I got closer to getting my driver’s license back. By the time the big day came, I had successfully turned my life around, living on my own and pursuing a new career path in graphic design.

After spending a year focused on putting the DUI behind me, I needed something else to focus my efforts on – and that became running a half marathon. After some research, I decided to run the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon, which was held in Fredericksburg, Virginia in May 2012. Growing up near Fredericksburg, I often visited scenic areas of the course and was looking forward to participating in an event associated with “The People’s Marathon.” I spent the winter of 2012 researching different training plans and tips for novice runners. I eventually stumbled across Hal Higdon’s Novice 1 Training Plan and thought it was a perfect match for newbie runners like myself.

During the 12 weeks of training, I was committed to not missing a day. This was especially challenging while training during the tail end of winter. Finding the time to run five days a week was also a struggle. There were many early morning and late-night runs that left me feeling tired, exhausted, and cranky. When I was training, I also had to focus on fueling my body for long runs. I learned a few lessons the hard way, including my body cannot handle Mexican food or a large bag of kale before a long run. But I will keep the details of those disturbing incidents to myself. Although I was not the fastest runner, by the end of my training program, I was ready for the big day.

The night before my race, I was very anxious wondering what the hell I got myself into. I carefully laid out my new neon yellow running gear and bib to ease my nerves and settled in for a restless night sleep. I had come a long way since my last extremely restless night, which was spent on the cold hard floor of a prison cell. I knew that no matter what, the next morning would be better than waking up in a lonely jail cell having to face the disappointed look on my parents’ faces.

On race day, I woke up at 5:00 am, while most of my family and support crew slept. My mom once again was my selfless chauffer and drove me downtown to the starting line. I anxiously waited for the race start, and was energized by all the adrenaline and nervous energy in the air. I had only one goal that day, to finish the race. Once my coral started, much of the race was a blur. The first eight miles, I remember feeling nostalgic as I passed by the streets and shops I visited while growing up. I also recall a group of spectators handing out tequila shots, and holding back vomit at the shear thought of drinking alcohol. I started struggling at mile nine, when I reached the infamous “Hospital Hill.” I debated taking a detour and checking myself into the hospital, but was motivated to continue by all the service men and women cheering us on. Although I spent the remaining 4 miles alternating between walking and running, I did not beat myself up – all I wanted to do was finish the race. The last half mile, I spotted my dad at a street corner eagerly waiting for me. This would be my favorite part of the race. My dad spent the remaining portion of the race running along beside me through the crowds, cheering and encouraging me to finish the race. Once I crossed the finish line, I was overcome with emotion and shed a few tears. The grueling 12 weeks of training had paid off, I had successfully run my first half marathon.

In the weeks that followed, I became eager to run another half marathon. My aunt, who ran a full marathon in every state, introduced me to the 50 States Half Marathon Club. After reading some inspiring stories, I decided to make it a personal goal to run a half marathon in every state as well as DC. Five years later, I have 15 races under my belt with two more scheduled in the coming months. I have come a long way in the past five years, from starting my own freelance business to pursuing a Master’s degree. After each race I complete, I push the shame of the DUI further behind me and become more comfortable in my own skin. I can confidently say that running saved my life and helped me see that my mistakes do not define me as a person. Although I made a terrible mistake the night, my DUI does not define me.

2016 Scholarship Winner

Our 2016 Scholarship goes to William Whalen from Manhattan, Kansas

The outdoors has always played a large role in my life, whether in Webelos Scouts, on my own, or with the US Navy for ten years. Thus far, I have used my military training to educate myself, make myself healthy, and make myself strong. However, there is an outdoor experience of mine that did involve being in good shape, overcome hardship, and adapt to obstacles. I also did not get any award for this experience as I did in the military, yet it has had a more profound impact on who I am than any other single event in my life. It’s the 2nd Annual Wildcat Warrior 5k in the nice little town of Manhattan Kansas from Kansas State University which includes a tour past the war memorials all the way through campus.

The campus is a beautiful, historic place where I walk through and still visit on a weekly bases. I started my training weeks before while I was working full time at my present job. Three weeks before I educated myself with running techniques and ate healthy. It took me just over three months to complete my training. In those three months I learned more about myself than in the previous years or in the five years since. I trained on my own and got advice from the Manhattan Running Company on running techniques and healthy food to eat before the big day. There is nothing which can compare. I knew the route before the actual day of the race, I wanted to be prepared. I needed to work hard but smart, luckily I was given a raise at work during my training.

I financed the training with extra money that I saved during about six months of my decision to run in the 5k. My last six months before the actual day, working 40 hours per week on top of my full-time training schedule, I was determined to reach my goal. Run the 5k for the first time in Manhattan, Kansas, a town I live in and love. This was the first real goal that I ever made for myself, and reached it alone on a warm April morning. Before that April morning, I read books on running and the techniques of running they all helped me tremendously.

The lessons from the training are ones that have affected me in everything I have done since. Because of those three months, I see training and scheduling differently, in a way they are sometimes impossible to explain to someone else, though I will try. Planning an event with help of a group of people is one thing but scheduling my own training time was just as detailed in my opinion. I succeeded and trusted my training when race day finally came. Working, training, reading, eating, thinking, and stretching on a daily bases were all very difficult.

My training was very challenging when I had to work all day, but I found a need to put myself through the difficulties of training life. Just like any professional athlete the proper training can make you a success or break you. From this time, I gained an appreciation for the little things, like energy water to drink, a balanced diet full of carbohydrates and plenty of rest (all of which were sometimes lacking). I met people from all around town and some from nearby towns like Junction City, Wamego, and Fort Riley, as I crossed paths with those whose backgrounds did not resemble mine, a skill I have used often in the military. I have found talking to people, like minded strangers, really improves on who you are and all those you meet.

While I was running all of the training came together in one instant. My breathing was in step with my strides, and my energy was focused on my goal, just to finish. I realize I am not a marathon runner but my will to overcome my agony will give me the will to fight for my next goal, whatever that may be. I was breathing clean country air and using that to gain energy with every stride I made. Everyone around me seemed to be a serious runner but this was my first 5k so I was running against myself not everyone else. I thought to myself many times through the entire run, “Just keep going one more stride the goal is yours just finish, I can’t fail if I attempt to finish, I see the finish line I am almost there”, I thought to myself.

Now I have improved on every aspect of my life. I no longer have to worry about health and well-being now I worry about my next 5k. I have traded my flight deck boots for running shoes and haven’t looked back. My military training has improved my responsibility my running has improved my overall outlook of life and health. Yet, somehow, everything I did before the 5k run applies to what I have done since. Whether it’s working at my job, meeting new interesting people, or sitting down with a good book, the lessons are not all that different. I learned how to better schedule my time, my health, and my own everyday life.

Though my two tours in the Navy, I wandered back into the real world and again onto the training path that will lead me to my next adventure. I know that if I can prepare better my need to train for my next 5k or even a 10k, will be a little easier. If I train one person to run better because of my experience, then I have accomplished an adequate goal, I have my previous experience to draw from. Because I have been there, I have a common bond with other runners and training for something that changed me forever. Throughout the world and the special bond to all of my Navy shipmates, that bond is over but never forgotten. I am still amazed at how my former life as an employee with no education turned into a world traveler has better prepared me for life as a disciplined runner.

2015 Scholarship Winner

Our 2015 Scholarship goes to Jonathan Blue from Columbus, Ohio

“Fight! No matter what happens in the next 24 hours I want you to fight and never give up. You hear me?” Those were the words whispered to me on November 4, 2013, and they have forever shaped the last year of my life. You see, that was the day I was rolled back into an operating room for a gastric bypass surgery. Everyone was scared of what would happen once I came out of surgery. The doctor was preparing everyone for the possibility I would wind up in the ICU for a couple days or longer. It was a surgery that, not only saved my life, but gave me a new body and a new lease on life. I never went to the ICU. Though I had no major complications from the surgery and my recovery was a breeze, that comment about fighting has stuck with me this last year. It has become my motivation and my credo. No matter what happens, each and every day I need to fight. I need to fight to get my body back.

One year ago, my life was miserable. I weight over 512lbs and everything hurt. I can remember not being able to fit into chairs and the constant worry that one would break as soon as I sat down. I can remember working my night shift Pharmacy job and practically crying and crawling through the front door of my home eight hours later after only having worked one night. I can remember being miserable and depressed. Something needed to change. I was finally sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Then something truly amazing happened to me. My mom sat me down one day and said she was so concerned for my health and safety that if I chose to have weight loss surgery she would pay for whatever my insurance didn’t cover. That shocked me for some reason. My mother was willing to pay thousands of dollars just to get her son back. It floored me. In another instance I had one of my best friends sit me down and tell me how concerned he was for me. He explained how, when I was in high school and we had first met, I was full of life. I could make anyone believe I could do whatever I set my mind to, no matter how crazy. “You were magnetic. People were attracted to you because they just wanted to be around your energy,” He said. He spoke with me candidly saying that he had slowly watched his best friend die a little inside each time my weight increased until he honestly didn’t even recognize me as the same person he become friends with 17 years earlier. At this point, I hadn’t fully realized I was a shell of the person I once was. I was capable of so much more and I had let it all slip away.

Those conversations started me on the leg of my journey that would lead me to surgery. I went through months of researching the pros and cons. I researched the procedures and agonized over which one would be right for me. I researched the doctors and who would take my insurance. Who was the best? But mostly I researched the process beginning to end, front and back. I wanted to know everything.

The biggest thing I was concerned about, and probably spent even more time studying than anything, was the diet and exercise requirements post-surgery. I knew my life would be changing, but I had no clue even then just how drastic. The typical weight loss surgery patient will be on less than 600 to 800 calories a day to start and over time work it up to about 1200. You need to realize that after surgery my stomach was the size of a shot glass. It was tiny. With so few calories going in, I was also required to do some physical exercise for an hour every day. This poses a very special problem in that I can only take in so many calories in a day due to the size of my stomach and a most all of those calories plus some are being burned through exercise. I needed a way to track every bit of food and exercise I was doing every day, if I wasn’t careful with that fine balance of calories in verses calories out, I would get light headed, dizzy, and feel really sick because I had pushed too far without proper nutrition. On the reverse side of things, I needed to keep my calorie deficit as high as possible so I would be able to lose the weight rapidly. This has been my dance every day for the last year.

The other great key to my journey was goal setting. During the weeks leading up to surgery, especially the two weeks prior where I was only allowed liquid, I immersed myself in what could be. I began to think of goals from the mundane to the insane. A mundane goals for me was simply being able to walk down a flight of stairs like a normal person instead of one at a time while holding tight to the rail for fear of falling or hurting myself due to the pressure on my joints. Insane for me was the simple one. I wanted to be an Ironman. I wanted to be one of those guys I saw on TV crossing the finish line and doing what very few people could because I had mastered my body. I decided on pursuing all the things I never thought I could, but wanted to try as a way to show myself what I was truly capable of. I spent hours upon hours watching every Ironman race that I could get my hands on. I watched recordings of the Boston Marathon and cycling events. When I wasn’t watching people achieving the dreams I wanted to pursue and reveling in the emotions of their victories, I was researching equipment and training techniques. As I lay at home recovering from my surgery this was my routine as well, but here I began peppering in planning. I had my mundane goal which I reached about two months out from surgery and when I did, I sat at the bottom of the stairwell and cried. Going down a flight of stairs may not be much to some, but to me it was everything. I also had my insane goal. Now the key was to plan all the baby steps in between.

Since I started this amazing journey, I have lost almost 210 lbs. In the last year and a half I have gone from couch potato to athlete. I have walked a 5K and a 10K, got my first road bike and my longest race to date has been 38 miles, and I have done a ¾ mile swim in the Ohio River and placed 6th in my age group. I have run my first 5K and 10K ever and even participated in the half marathon at the Flying Pig in 2015. I have said many times now looking back, I feel as though I was in a bad dream and am just now waking up. I want to run my first full marathon at the Walt Disney World Marathon in 2016, to finish my first Olympic triathlon later this year, to finish my first half Ironman race in 2016, and my first full Ironman race in 2017. I also want to document a trip bikepacking the Colorado Trail in Denver. It is a 585 mile single-track mountain bike trail that I want to ride before the end of 2017.

The reason I want to do these things is to prove to myself that my body is amazing and is capable of so much more than I ever thought possible. Every time I finish a race and feel as though I have pushed my body to its limit, I realize that I am not dead. I am still alive and could probably push a little more next time. I spent so much time neglecting it that I now want to see what it is truly capable of. I also want to do this to prove that anyone out there can take back their lives, it just takes a choice. I am no one special. I am just some regular guy that made the choice to get healthy and if I can do it, then anyone can. I want to motivate others to greatness. The running has been an amazing tool that has helped me on my journey and I know it can help you no matter where you find yourself.

2014 Scholarship Winner

Our 2014 Scholarship goes to Tiffany Chu from Warren, New Jersey

Movement is naturally essential to life, especially in health. My family likes to explore movement by playing sports and participating in charity walks together. I have been running and walking in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, De-FEET Breast Cancer 5K Run/Walk, JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes, and the American Diabetes Association’s STEP OUT Walk to Stop Diabetes since before I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and Graves’ Disease at the age of 13. Movement is not just important to life in general, but it is also important to my life and well-being, and I intend to share that with the world through my art.

Growing up, I was a very active child who played different sports like basketball and badminton with my family in the driveway every night. When we traveled, I sand-surfed down the sand dunes of the great Sahara Desert, and chased after small fish in Zanzibar. I was absolutely in love with movement! Unfortunately, my sports hobbies came to an abrupt halt at the age of 13 in 2007 when I discovered that I had Type 1 Diabetes and Graves’ Disease. My world came tumbling down. From monthly blood tests to daily finger pricks, I did not understand why I suddenly had so many medical responsibilities that nobody else I knew had, and I felt burdened that my single mother had to take care of me by herself, while still supporting two other children with medical disabilities. I blamed myself for all of these ailments, and I trapped myself in a bubble of confusion and immobility until I entered high school. In high school, movement was encouraged because it felt good to be part of a high school sports team. I joined my school’s volleyball, bowling, fencing, and ultimate Frisbee teams, and I fell back in love with movement again! I even joined a dance team and got the amazing opportunity to perform on the USS Intrepid in New York City!

The following year, I traveled to Nairobi and Malindi in Kenya to work with Touch Africa International to help the children benefit from their education and medical resources. At the Lea Mwana Orphanage where I helped out, the children showed me that it is important for everyone to come together and help one another because although everyone feels lonely, no one is alone. That really struck me because when I was first diagnosed, I felt like I was the only one who had Diabetes and thyroid problems. Turns out that as I started maturing and realizing that I could not blame these things on myself because I had no control over them, there was a huge number of people my age who were also suffering from similar medical problems. We would bond through online forums and help each other out whenever any of us had a problem because we all felt like we had experienced similar situations. Only this time, there were others behind you who had gone through and felt what you were feeling, to support you through those tough times. I do not think it was a mere coincidence that while I was working at Lea Mwana, I found out that a few of the organization directors were also suffering from diabetes, and did not hesitate to share their stories with me. The children at the orphanage also showed me that even when you do not have much, it is essential to appreciate what you have and always be happy living in the present moment. It was truly the most rewarding and life-changing experience I had ever had!

By the time I entered college, I was swamped with work and found little time to relish in movement. Although exercise is important to my health, the most I could do during the school year was bustle back and forth between my dorm and the campus building. I was always sitting in front of the computer and could only find time to exercise my mind and fingers on the keyboard. My love for movement is the reason why I chose to study motion media design. I transferred the movement that my body constantly yearned for, into my animations and motion designs. In the future, I hope to make interactive motion graphic animations for the people who have had their livelihood robbed from them, especially the children who have lost their families. I hope the joy that these energetic animations have brought back into my life, will reignite in their hearts and inspire them as much as my experiences have led me to be the type of person I am today.

I run and walk in charity marathons not just because it is good for my well-being, but also because I have never wanted anything more than to stop suffering for all people. The pain that I felt when I was first diagnosed was unimaginable, and I do not wish for anyone to have to go through that. The history of my diseases has been trailing along my family line from my grandparents to my great-grandparents, and I cannot imagine what they had to go through back then. The fact that they were diagnosed at a much later age than my early adolescence only worries me more! The charity runs that my family and I participate in help to raise funds towards research for a cure, but it also benefits those who just show up and walk along with the groups who do it for the cause. The cause does not just target a specific audience, but it supports the well-being of everyone because these diseases have the potential of hitting just about everyone. These walks/runs encourage families to come out and defeat and prevent disease together as one, and there is nothing more important than working through a difficult time with people by your side.

Through my experiences, running and enjoying movement has not just been a hobby, but it has become a lifelong necessity that I enjoy with the people around me. It has shown not only through my health, but through my potential career path of working in the amazing motion graphics industry. I am so happy that movement has grown into such a big part of my life!

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Create Your Own Running Narrative

• Laura Norris
• August 19, 2015
• 14 Comments
• Content Policy

Recently, I read an engaging article in the Atlantic about creating narrative arcs for our lives. I found the article fascinating, of course, because I studied English in undergrad and history in grad school and both fields are highly concerned with how we tell stories. So, naturally, I started thinking about how we mentally shape what type of runner we become and why you should create your own running narrative.

Many of us have likely developed an unintentional narrative for our running based on how we perceive ourselves in comparison to other runners or how we comprehend our shortcomings and strengths. Maybe you characterize yourself as slow, because you aren’t as fast as some other bloggers and runners you know who are whipping out sub-1:30 halfs with ease. Maybe you have begun to doom yourself to a self-fulling prophecy that you always get injured after a race, because it happened a couple of times in the past. Perhaps you’re scared to try and run a marathon because you’ve told yourself you’re not a long distance runner for so long.

Success in running is as much psychological as it is physiological. While training, recovery, and personal abilities most certainly determine our achievements, the more I learn about the sport of running, the more I believe that our perception of our abilities is the defining factor in how we run. A deliberate narrative for your running will help you improve your psychological approach to the sport and overcome mental barriers, thus leading you towards becoming your best running self, however you may define that.

Character Development

Yesterday’s run was awful, but you wouldn’t know it looking at the numbers. Data-wise, the run went well: two easy miles for warm up, 4 x 1.5 miles at half marathon effort, which ended up being right at a 7:35-7:40 min/mile pace, what it should be for aiming for an 3:30:00 marathon, and a slow and gentle mile for cool down. In real life, though, this run was a fight the whole entire way. My stomach was angry at me, probably because the lunch I packed for the previous day’s hike had gotten a little spoiled in the heat without me realizing it. My legs were heavy and I was tired, both mentally and physically. It was already warm, or at least warm for Seattle.

At mile 2, I thought, I could do an easy run and still cover the same distance and just do this workout another day this week. A total of 6 miles at half marathon pace is no easy workout. Or, I could fight, mind over matter, and do my best for that day. So that’s what I did, one interval at a time.

I feel like a year ago, I would have quit. Maybe I should have quit, since I ended up run/walking my cool down mile. Still, I completed by intervals at a strong pace, which was the primary goal of that workout. I have, over the past few months, re-written in my running narrative what type of runner I am: disciplined , resilient , driven, dedicated. I don’t quit easily. BQs and bigger goals are not achieved by easy workouts; they are achieved by pushing through even when you want to quit, when you have to actively fight the physical and mental urge to stop. The marathon, after all, will involve a series of fights between the deep-seated desire to achieve my goals and the urge to just quit or ease up on the pace.

How you perceive yourself as a runner can shape your success. If you write your narrative with can’ts, won’ts, shouldn’ts, then you are mentally limiting yourself and will likely get in your own way of your goals. If you write a narrative of perseverance and dedication, where you roll with the punches and overcome mental and physical barriers.

Redemption Narrative and Overcoming Perceived Failures

Not every race is a victory. Whether it’s due to undertraining, overtraining, injury, GI distress, poor pacing, nasty weather, or just a plain off day, all of us have races, training runs, or even easy runs that we’d rather forget. We can think of these runs in two ways: one, as failures that will cause us to doubt ourselves, or two, as stepping stones on our path to our goals and as valuable lessons. The second option is a redemption narrative, in which we move past our perceived failures, take away something of value, and keep working towards our goal.

So a bad race, in the redemption narrative, is not a bad race. It is a race which taught us the value of proper pacing, showed us which gels simply do not agree with our stomachs, or revealed to us the mental demons which we must learn to overcome. Whether we reached our goals or not, the race itself is only what we make of it and how we move forward from it.

Intrinsic Motivation

Why do you run? Part of creating your own running narrative is discerning why you run. Staying connected with the reasons why you run and how you developed your passion for running will help you stay motivated and continue to be an eager and joyful participant in the sport for many years.

Understanding your intrinsic motivation will also help you clearly determine your goals and thus shape your identity has a runner. Not every runner has to be a marathoner; if you find more exhilaration in the fleet-footed pace of shorter races and are more motivated to train through track workouts than long runs, then why force yourself to train for longer distances? Write your running narrative so you do what you love, whether it’s 5Ks, trail ultras, or pure and simple raceless running.

Be the runner you want to be and be that well. Don’t let extrinsic pressure shape what type of runner you are, whether it’s running marathons several times a year or signing up for every fun 5K. Don’t let doubts and “can’ts” limit you from being your best. Running can bring out the best of you, so let you running narrative do exactly that.

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Questions of the Day: Have you created a narrative for your running? What type of runner do you perceive yourself as? What mental obstacles hinder you from achieving your goals? What’s your motivation?

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Share this post, 14 responses.

Mind blown for the morning. But in a good way. I think. Perhaps the most important, and most basic, takeaway from this is that you have the power to write your own story, and to change the course of it and your own perception of it. So often we think we are at the mercy of what happens, rather than making things happen ourselves by changing our perspective.

Thank you! I think you nailed it – whether it’s running, work, or life, we write our own stories based on our perceptions and reactions. The English major in me also wants to talk about narrative fallacy, but that’s a whole other story!

I think this convo requires an hour or two and a glass of wine. And a lap cat. But hey, I’ll try. I think that I face running with a “bring it the F on” attitude because I use running to release stress. So if I can transfer my inner pain and channel it out through my legs in a “take THAT” type way then I trick myself into thinking I have some sort of control over my life. Which I do, I guess. I have control over the things I can control, like running (for the most part) and other decisions I make, healthy or otherwise. Running certainly helps with character development although I think I have enough character over here to share with a small country.

More people need character like you! I think a lot of us run for catharsis and it’s probably one of the best things that running offers us.

Thanks for sharing this, Laura. I think my favorite takeaway from this post is: “goals are not achieved by easy workouts; tthey are achieved by pushing through even when you want to quit, when you have to actively fight the physical and mental urge to stop.”

Do you want to come to my spin class and preach this for me?! This is what I try to get across to my riders during every class!

Thank you, Lauren! I’m pretty sure your spin class would kick my butt! I remember trying to get that across to my Pilates students as well – it’s hard!

This was a great post – very thoughtful! I love running posts that go a little deeper.

I am in the process of completely rewriting my own “running narrative.” After trying to do too much this year and feeling burned out after my marathon, I had to take a step back and readjust my goals and priorities. It’s amazing how much my old running narrative – the one I didn’t even know I’d created for myself – had become so ingrained in everything I did and thought. Everything I ever did was about “getting faster” and I find myself having to unlearn those thoughts and re-train my brain to think “you don’t need to be faster. Just run! That’s all that matters!” I’m hoping I’ll come away from these next few months with a more holistic approach to running and fitness instead of a rigidly success-oriented one. And maybe my narrative right now is to just live and let the narrative work itself out over time; writing your own story is great, but trying to force yourself into a narrative you’ve chosen (like me and my obsession with “being faster”) can lead you to lose sight of reality and quash your love of the sport, as I have learned recently.

Thanks for the thought provoking post!

Thank you, Hanna! It sounds like you’re doing a very wise thing by focusing on what’s best for you. A holistic approach to running is so much more enriching and sustainable than a rigid, single-minded one. Progress isn’t always represented in numbers, but I think when we just let ourselves enjoy running, we end up surprising ourselves!

I often face a lot of self doubt when I’m training, especially for a big goal. Sometimes I will shy away from the hard work because I’m afraid of failure. I often have to remember that I run for me and as long as I know I’ve done all I can, then I should be happy with all of my results. Great post 🙂

Thank you, Jamie! I could talk all day about fear of failure. I definitely feel the same as you – that sometimes we don’t want to push for a big goal, because what if we do all the hard work and don’t achieve it? I think you have a great attitude, that we should be happy with the results either way! 🙂

These are all such great questions.

I AM a slow runner, despite putting in the work — the tempos, the speedwork, the strength training, etc.

Yet I do feel that I have better race times in me. I truly believe that. So here I am again, training for another HM, believing it could be the next PR . . .

Well, you have definitely given me food for thought.

Thank you, Judy! First off, I think slow is a completely subjective definition – everyone is slow compared to someone (except maybe those Kenyans who win everything) and fast compared to someone else. I do think you have PRs in you – and most of the victory is in trying!

I”m just seeing this thanks to Susie’s link on her post today. But this is really an amazing post (as are all of your posts). I”m going to bookmark this and come back to it when I need to. But my inner narrative right now has me feeling very strong and ready for Chicago. Not necessarily a BQ tho, because I’ve decided that more importantly is to finish feeling strong. No matter what the finish time.

Thank you so much, Wendy! I really think you are going to have such a strong race at Chicago – your mental and physical training has been so strong!

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Strategies for Achieving Your Half Marathon Recovery Goals

How to prevent stress fractures while running, according to science, how to include tune-up races in your training, how much water should i drink before, during, and after a run, how to pace your fastest half marathon, how to build a running shoe rotation.

Gamechanger 2021

Running in the First 5k Race Essay

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Introduction

Preparation for the race, running the 5k race, after the race; lessons learnt, reference list.

Athletics is a very popular sport since it stands distinctly from other sports like football, basketball, table tennis, hockey, golf or even swimming. It involves aspects like walking, jumping, and running in the form of cross-country running, race walking, road running, and track-and-field running. Athletics has become a resourceful sport in different countries due to the image it creates and the revenue earned from it.

Many have taken it as a profession and earn their living primarily from athletics, for example, the athletes, the athletic director, and other staff concerned with the running of athletic programs at different levels while others take it as a form of relaxation and physical exercise that helps to keep the body fit and healthy.

A 5k race is essential and gives runners especially those doing it for their first time a nice experience as it offers motivation and helps the runners enjoy all the aspects in the race and also enhances speed in future races. This paper discusses my experience in a 5k race from preparation, actual running, and even after the race giving the practical significance of the experience in my life in general.

Just like any other aspect of life, running requires preparation so as to make the exercise a success. Being my first 5k race, I had a lot of anxiety and needed a lot of training and preparation to make sure that I gave it my best and win in the competition. It was a relay and I had to be cooperative with my team members who were my workmates. Running requires some inner motivation and training since not everyone can run. It may be very intimidating especially for a person who is doing it for the first time due to the challenges associated with it, for example, fatigue and injuries.

Prior preparation is very essential to ensure that the body is used to the practice of running and one can therefore run comfortably. Two months prior to the actual exercise, I took the initiative of getting a medical clearance from my doctor to ensure that am fit to participate in the race without health complications since it is important to always maintain good health. I also had to identify the appropriate shoes for my foot type to ensure that I am comfortable when running and to avoid unnecessary injuries that could interfere with the process of running.

This is done by visiting experts in the running field who stock sports shoes, giving the right information after which the appropriate shoes are provided. Warm-ups are very essential for example walking for some minutes prior to running. During my first week of practice, I had three sessions of walking for 6 minutes and jogging for 1 minute and three sessions of 5minutes walking and 2minutes jogging; week three involved four sessions of walking for 3 minutes and jogging for 4 minutes, and walking for 2 minutes and jogging for 5 minutes four times during the fourth week.

During the fifth week, I had four sessions three times, 2 minutes walking and 5 minutes jogging while I walked for 2 minutes and jogged for 9 minutes thrice on the sixth week. I had four sessions of walking for 1 minute and jogging for 11 minutes thrice during my seventh week. It was after the practice that I could now be able to run for twenty minutes at the beginning of the eighth week and thirty consecutive minutes towards the end of the week. I continued doing this four times a week and realized that things were becoming easier and that my endurance and fitness improved day after day making me more suited for the 5k race.

The training part of the running process helped me so much as my body was now used to and I had the stamina and fitness it takes to run the 5k race. I ran the 5k in a relay with other four workmates. Having done the training together although with some discrepancies in approaches due to our differences in strength and determination, we were able to take the third position and we were not happy about the results bearing in mind that we had the chance of becoming the winner. It was after the race that we learned that we could have adhered to some of the tips that aid in proper running, for example, looking ahead while running to ensure safety, avoiding landing on the toes or heels but landing on the midfoot, keeping hands at waist level and relaxing them, maintaining the right posture, avoiding too much bouncing that uses a lot of energy and keeping the shoulders in a relaxed state (Herreros, 2003).

After the race, there were different views on what happened and everyone tried to evaluate why we performed that way. At some point, it was viewed as a good attempt as it was our first time but to some people being the first time did not justify the poor performance. I learned that preparation especially for the first timers is the most crucial part of the running process and should therefore be taken very seriously as it determines the success or failure of the activity. It is not good to ignore the simple things involved in the preparation and training as it is their combination that brings the end result. Rest is essential since it enhances recovery and helps prevent injuries through muscle building and repair. A comfortable pace is also recommended as long as the targeted mileage is covered to avoid straining of the body muscles. Other exercises apart from running and jogging for instance swimming are vital to reduce monotony while at the same time relaxing the body.

It is also advisable to warm up before running and cool down after running. I also learned that a run-walk method of preparation is good to start with as beginners usually do not have the stamina to run throughout without breaks and to increase running time gradually while reducing the walking time. Controlling the breathing while running is essential and one should make sure the breathing is not heavy and can allow talking while running. It is important to reduce the workload of training a week before the actual race so as to increase the peak by loosening the legs for the race day.

Resting and stretching the body muscles the day before race is crucial and drinking plenty of water on the day before the race and after the race is good to avoid dehydration of the body. One should wear the appropriate shoes, pay attention to pains in the body to sense signs of adverse injury and wear right clothing, not too much or too little for the weather to ensure one is comfortable and not in danger of developing weather related illness. One should also train moderately and avoid being overconfident and bear in mind that the competitors have also undergone some training (Earl, 2005).

In every aspect of life, it is important to pay attention to all issues however simple they may seem to be. Preparation is essential in any activity as the effort put in determines the result. Teamwork is a good skill to be adopted as it is through the combination of ideas and efforts that overall success is achieved, for instance, if all my team members had proper training, we would have been able to secure a second or even the first position.

It is evident that there has been an increased interest and participation in athletics and sports. Athletics has become the most attractive activity because of its simplicity nature and use of inexpensive equipment among other factors. The 5k offers a good chance for the beginners and tests the speed and strength of runners that have been in existence so it should never be under-emphasized. It has also proved to be essential in building the speed for long-distance runners. It emphasizes on the need to balance mileage and speed in running and the importance of adequate training that ensures that the runners’ bodies adapt well to the strenuous exercise of running and in the long run perform well.

Earl, W.F. (2005). The Complete Guide to Running: How to Be a Champion from 9 to 90. New York: Meyer & Meyer Verlag.

Herreros, M. (2003). Running in Florida: A Practical Guide for Runners in the Sunshine State . New York: Pineapple Press Inc.

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IvyPanda. (2021, March 19). Running in the First 5k Race. https://ivypanda.com/essays/running-in-the-first-5k-race/

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IvyPanda . 2021. "Running in the First 5k Race." March 19, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/running-in-the-first-5k-race/.

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Essay Samples on Running

The highlights of some of the best kinesiology tapes.

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Importance Of Physical Fitness In Marathon Runners

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Effects Of Running On Our Health

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The Disadvantages of Intense Training Among Runners

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What Running Means to Me

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The Importance of Practicing Running Regularly

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How to Improve Your Running Form

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Treadmill or Running Outside: Pros and Cons of Each Practice

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Best topics on Running

1. The Highlights of Some of the Best Kinesiology Tapes

2. Importance Of Physical Fitness In Marathon Runners

3. Effects Of Running On Our Health

4. The Disadvantages of Intense Training Among Runners

5. What Running Means to Me

6. The Importance of Practicing Running Regularly

7. How to Improve Your Running Form

8. Treadmill or Running Outside: Pros and Cons of Each Practice

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, need advice on writing a college essay about running.

Hey! I've been on my school's track and cross country team since freshman year, and it's really been a transformative experience for me. I want to share this journey in my college essay, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to make it relatable and memorable. Any fellow runners out there who have written about their running experiences in essays? I'd appreciate any help!

Hello! It's great to hear that your running journey has been so transformative. In order to make your essay relatable and memorable, you'll want to avoid focusing on the common aspects like training, getting faster, and winning races. Instead, try to find a unique angle or narrow in on a specific experience that conveys a larger truth about yourself.

One approach is to explore how running taught you a valuable life lesson, such as discipline, resilience, or self-motivation. You could use an anecdote about overcoming a challenge or achieving a personal goal that had a significant impact on you.

For example, maybe you set a goal to break a certain time in the mile and made a plan to reach it, despite numerous setbacks. What strategies did you employ to reach that goal? What did you learn from that process? How did it change your approach to other aspects of your life?

Another idea is to discuss a connection you made through running that had a significant impact on you, such as a special friendship with a teammate, a mentoring relationship with a coach, or a unique experience during a race that resonated with you on a personal level. Delve into the details of that connection, how it helped you grow, and how it reflects your values or character.

Lastly, consider discussing running as a part of a bigger personal narrative. For instance, maybe running helped you cope with stress or manage a difficult situation in your life. In this case, you could intertwine the story of your running journey with the story of overcoming personal adversity, thereby showing how the two aspects of your life influenced and supported one another.

In the end, what matters most is conveying your growth, self-awareness, and personal qualities through the lens of your running experiences. Make it unique to you, and it'll be both relatable and memorable. Good luck with your essay!

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Descriptive Essay about Running a Marathon

Essays about sports are not that hard to write, especially when they are related to your personal experience. Or does it just look this way? The problem with personal experience based essays is that a student thinks that it is enough just to tell the story and completely forgets about the structure, logic of narration and, sometimes, even grammar. Help here can be found from term paper writers . 

When choosing a sports major, many students mistakenly think they won’t have to write essays anymore. Though there are not too many of those, students still end asking themselves who can  do my essay fast and cheap . But, essays about sports are not that hard to write, especially when they are related to your personal experience. Or does it just look this way? The problem with personal experience based essays is that a student thinks that it is enough just to tell the story and completely forgets about the structure, logic of narration and, sometimes, even grammar.

To get you closer to the idea of a successful sports essay, we’ve asked experts from a professional essay writing company  Smart Writing Service  to share a sample of a descriptive essay about running a marathon.

My first marathon: lessons, fails, a victory

The idea of running a marathon wasn’t too bold and unexpected for me. I’ve already finished two half-marathons the previous year, and though it was quite a challenge, I can’t say I didn’t struggle for more. I was planning to finish a marathon in less than 4 hours, which is a good time for someone like me. Those two half-marathons I ran almost without specific preparation—I run for fun, and I am active in the gym, but I didn’t use specific programs. This time I’ve decided that it is time to get closer to “professional amateur” runners. 

Preparation phase

Though most of my friends use Nike or Strava apps to track running activity and create individual programs, I have chosen an application offered by Asics. Asics is not that fancy, but fully functional and free, which was a valuable factor me. I have created a four-month training plan with four running exercises each week. When I’ve seen a program, I have realized what I was doing wrong before. Running activity I had before was based on “pure running” — 5km, 10 km, the more, the better. Here I’ve realized that I need to have one long training week, with a moderate pace, one training to increase my speed, I test run, close by speed to what I want to achieve, and one “strength running workout.” And so I’ve started. 

My training plan happened to be truly useful, though I should admit that I’ve not been diligent enough with what is called strength running workouts. They don’t feel like running, and it is rather irritating. It was a mistake, because, as practice proves, weak legs can’t run long enough. Looking ahead, I should admit that I’ve finished the marathon, but I will pay more attention to these apps in the future. 

Starting shot. The first 10 km I run on the pulse up to 155, I am surprised to see that I run 5 min/km, which is pretty fast for me. I feel that I can add more, but I’m afraid of scary stories about hitting the wall. After 10km I eat a tube of gel. 10-20 km I’m just running in euphoria, the pulse is up to 155, the speed is still 5-5.30, nothing hurts. I eat two gels every 30 minutes. 20-30 km aching sensations in the legs begin to appear. I start being anxious. At the same time, I see that for the first 20 km, I created a normal reserve for myself in time, I ran about 5.30, although for some reason my heart rate drops to 150-152. I start adding gel every 20 min. 

After 30 km, the legs become wooden. They begin to feel cracks and bumps on the pavement, which I had not noticed before. But it is at this moment that the strongest emotion comes—I’m sure that I will do a marathon! I will endure, no matter what! The only thing—I’m still afraid that my legs will fail after 35 km and follow the pace, although I try not to fall below 6 minutes. The pulse sometimes starts to go below 150. As planned, I plan to add speed after 35 km, then after 37, then after 40, but the closer the finish is, the less my desire to accelerate is.

Three hundred meters before the finish, I’m doing the finishing spurt! I probably could have done it earlier, but the finish itself was not visible, so I couldn’t plan it good enough. At the finish, I grab a medal and try to enjoy the sensation of a great deed. However, the delight at 30 km was still stronger, as it was not drowned out by the pain in my legs and an overwhelming terrible cold. 

I’ve made a terrible mistake not paying enough attention to strength exercises, and if my finances allow it, I would like to work with a trainer for my next marathon. However, I can say that my decision to take part in this run made me feel very proud of myself, and now I can have bigger goals—both in sports, education, and my future career. 

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Our 2024-25 Student Contest Calendar

Ten challenges that invite teenagers to engage, experiment, reflect and create — via writing, photography, audio, video and more.

By The Learning Network

Our annual Contest Calendar is probably the single most powerful thing we publish all year. Teachers tell us they plan their classes around our challenges, and tens of thousands of teenagers around the globe participate by creating narratives, reviews, videos, opinion pieces, podcasts, illustrations, photo essays and more.

For us, these contests are an honor and a joy to host. We love learning from young people — about what moves them and makes them mad, what intrigues and confuses and delights and defines them.

This year, we are bringing back some recent and longtime favorites, as well as introducing a few new challenges.

To begin, we have two options this fall in response to the U.S. election, though students around the globe are welcome. In September, we open with a series of special forums that invite teenagers to have thoughtful conversations about their civic and political identities, values and beliefs. Then, if they choose, they can work alone or with others to make something in response — whether in writing, video, audio or visual art.

In the spring, we’re offering “My List,” a twist on our long-running review contest. This time, students can choose any collection of three to five works of art or culture to group in some way and then tell us why we should — or shouldn’t — check them out.

We’ll be posting the full rules and guidelines for each contest here when it opens. but for now you can look at the related resources we’ve provided, as well as last year’s rules, which will largely remain the same for our returning contests. And don’t forget we have a full yearlong writing curriculum to help support this work.

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How to Win Essay Contests: A Step-by-Step Guide

10 Steps to Writing Contest-Winning Essays

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Did you know that you can win prizes with your writing skills? Essay contests are a fun way to turn your creativity and your command of the written word into great prizes. But how do you give your essay the edge that gets it picked from among all of the other entries?

Here's a step-by-step guide to writing essays that impress judges. Follow these steps for your best chances of winning writing contests.

Read the Essay Contest Rules

The first thing that you should do to win essay contests is to read the rules thoroughly. Overlooking one small detail could be the difference between winning the contest and wasting your time.

Pay special attention to:

• The contest's start and end dates.
• How often you're allowed to enter.
• The word or character count .
• The contest's theme.
• The criteria that the judges will use to pick the winners.
• Who the sponsoring company is, and what their branding is like.
• And any other details the sponsor requires.

It might help you to print out the sweepstakes rules and highlight the most important elements, or to take notes and keep them close at hand as you write.

If you summarize the relevant rules in a checklist, you can easily check the requirements off when you've finished your essay to ensure you haven't overlooked anything.

Brainstorm Your Essay Ideas

Many people want to jump right into writing their essay, but it's a better idea to take some time to brainstorm different ideas before you start. Oftentimes, your first impulse isn't your best.

The Calgary Tutoring Centre lists several reasons why brainstorming improves your writing . According to their article, brainstorming lets you:

"Eliminate weaker ideas or make weaker ideas stronger. Select only the best and most relevant topics of discussion for your essay while eliminating off-topic ideas. Or, generate a new topic that you might have left out that fits with others."

For a great brainstorming session, find a distraction-free area and settle in with a pen and paper, or your favorite method to take notes. A warm beverage and a healthy snack might aid your process. Then, think about your topic and jot down quick words and phrases that are relevant to your theme.

This is not the time to polish your ideas or try to write them coherently. Just capture enough of the idea that you know what you meant when you review your notes.

Consider different ways that you can make the contest theme personal, come at it from a different angle, or stand out from the other contest entries. Can you make a serious theme funny? Can you make your ideas surprising and unexpected?

Write down all your ideas, but don't judge them yet. The more ideas you can come up with, the better.

Select the Essay Concept that Best Fits the Contest's Theme and Sponsor

Once you've finished brainstorming, look over all of your ideas to pick the one you want to develop for your essay contest entry.

While you're deciding, think about what might appeal to the essay contest's sponsor. Do you have a way of working the sponsor's products into your essay? Does your concept fit the sponsor's company image?

An essay that might be perfect for a Budweiser contest might fall completely flat when Disney is the sponsor.

This is also a good time to consider whether any of your rejected ideas would make good secondary themes for your essay.

Use a Good Hook to Grab the Reader's Attention

When it's time to start writing your essay, remember that the first sentence is the most important. You want to ensure that your first paragraph is memorable and grabs the reader's attention.

When you start with a powerful, intriguing, moving, or hilarious first sentence, you hook your readers' interest and stick out in their memory when it is time to pick winners.

Writer's Digest has some excellent tips on how to hook readers at the start of an essay in their article, 10 Ways to Hook Your Reader (and Reel Them in for Good) .

For ideas on how to make your essay unforgettable, see Red Mittens, Strong Hooks, and Other Ways to Make Your Essay Spectacular .

Write the First Draft of Your Essay

Now, it's time to get all of your thoughts down on paper (or on your computer). Remember that this is a first draft, so don't worry about perfect grammar or if you are running over your word count. 

Instead, focus on whether your essay is hitting the right emotional notes, how your story comes across, whether you are using the right voice, and if you are communicating everything you intend to.

First drafts are important because they help you overcome your reluctance to write. You are not trying to be good yet, you are trying to simply tell your story. Polishing that story will come later.

They also organize your writing. You can see where your ideas fit and where you need to restructure to give them more emotional impact.

Finally, a first draft helps you keep your ideas flowing without letting details slow you down. You can even skip over parts that you find challenging, leaving notes for your next revision. For example, you could jot down "add statistics" or "get a funny quote from Mom" and come back to those time-consuming points later.

Revise Your Essay for Flow and Organization

Once you've written the first draft of your essay, look over it to ensure that it flows. Is your point well-made and clear? Do your thoughts flow smoothly from one point to another? Do the transitions make sense? Does it sound good when you read it aloud?

This is also the time to cut out extraneous words and ensure you've come in under the word count limit.

Generally, cutting words will improve your writing. In his book, On Writing , Stephen King writes that he once received a rejection that read: "Formula for success: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft – 10%." In other words, the first draft can always use some trimming to make the best parts shine.

If you'd like some tips on how to improve your first draft, check out these tips on how to self-edit .

Keep an Eye Out for "Red Mittens"

In her fantastic book, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio , Terry Ryan talked about how her mother Evelyn used "red mittens" to help her be more successful with contest entries.

As she put it:

"The purpose of the Red Mitten was almost self-explanatory -- it made an entry stand out from the rest. In a basket of mittens, a red one will be noticed."

Rhyme, alliteration, inner rhyme, puns, and coined words were some of the red mittens that Evelyn Ryan used to make her entries pop. Your essay's red mitten might be a clever play on words, a dash of humor, or a heart-tuggingly poignant story that sticks in the judges' minds.

If your first draft is feeling a little bland, consider whether you can add a red mitten to spice up your story.

Put Your Contest Entry Aside

Now that you have a fairly polished draft of your essay contest entry, put it aside and don't look at it for a little while. If you have time before the contest ends, put your essay away for at least a week and let your mind mull over the idea subconsciously for a little while.

Many times, people think of exactly what their essay needs to make it perfect... right after they have hit the submit button.

Letting your entry simmer in your mind for a while gives you the time to come up with these great ideas before it's too late.

Revise Your Essay Contest Entry Again

Now, it's time to put the final polish on your essay. Have you said everything you wanted to? Have you made your point? Does the essay sound good when you read it out loud? Can you tighten up the prose by making additional cuts in the word count?

In this phase, it helps to enlist the help of friends or family members. Read your essay to them and check their reactions. Did they smile at the right parts? Were they confused by anything? Did they connect with the idea behind the story?

This is also a good time to ensure you haven't made any grammar or spelling mistakes. A grammar checker like Grammarly is very helpful for catching those little mistakes your eyes gloss over. But since even computer programs make mistakes sometimes, so it's helpful to have another person — a good friend or family member — read it through before you submit it.

Read the Essay Contest Rules One Last Time

If you've been following these directions, you've already read through the contest rules carefully. But now that you've written your draft and had some time to think things over, read them through one more time to make sure you haven't overlooked anything.

Go through your checklist of the essay requirements point-by-point with your finished essay in front of you to make sure you've hit them all.

And now, you're done! Submit the essay to your contest, and keep your fingers crossed for the results !

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Essay Papers Writing Online

Engaging in competitive essay writing – how to excel in essay writing competitions.

Essay writing competitions can be a great opportunity to showcase your writing skills and win accolades for your creativity and thoughtfulness. Whether you are a seasoned writer or just starting out, competition can be fierce, so it’s vital to have a winning strategy in place.

In this article, we will discuss top tips and strategies that can help you stand out from the competition and increase your chances of winning essay writing competitions.

From identifying the right competition to crafting a compelling thesis statement and polishing your final draft, there are several key steps you can take to improve your chances of emerging victorious. Let’s dive into these tips and strategies to help you succeed in essay writing competitions!

Prepare Your Essay

1. Understand the topic: Before you start writing your essay, make sure you completely understand the topic. Research and gather relevant information to build a strong foundation for your argument.

2. Develop a clear thesis statement: Your thesis statement should clearly convey the main point of your essay. It will serve as the guiding principle for the rest of your writing.

3. Create an outline: Organize your thoughts and arguments by creating an outline. This will help you structure your essay in a logical and coherent manner.

4. Write a compelling introduction: Start your essay with a compelling introduction that captures the reader’s attention and clearly presents your thesis statement.

5. Support your arguments with evidence: Back up your arguments with reliable evidence, examples, and research. This will strengthen your essay and make your points more convincing.

6. Craft a strong conclusion: End your essay with a strong conclusion that summarizes your main points and reinforces your thesis statement. Leave a lasting impression on the reader.

7. Edit and revise: Once you have completed your essay, take the time to edit and revise it. Check for spelling and grammatical errors, ensure your arguments flow smoothly, and make any necessary revisions to improve clarity and coherence.

Research Your Topic

One of the most important steps in preparing for an essay writing competition is to thoroughly research your topic. Ensure that you understand the key concepts, arguments, and perspectives related to the subject matter. Use credible sources such as academic journals, books, and reputable websites to gather information and support your arguments.

Understand the Competition Guidelines

One essential aspect of winning essay writing competitions is understanding the competition guidelines. Before you start writing your essay, carefully read and follow the rules and requirements provided by the competition organizers. Pay attention to the word count, topic restrictions, formatting guidelines, submission deadlines, and any other specific instructions.

By familiarizing yourself with the competition guidelines, you can ensure that your essay meets all the necessary criteria for consideration. Failure to adhere to the rules could result in disqualification, so it is crucial to read and understand the guidelines thoroughly before you begin your writing process.

Develop Your Writing Skills

Improving your writing skills is essential if you want to succeed in essay writing competitions. Here are some tips to help you develop your writing skills:

• Read extensively: Reading a variety of books, articles, and essays can help you improve your writing style and vocabulary.
• Practice writing regularly: The more you write, the better you will become. Set aside time each day to write and experiment with different writing techniques.
• Seek feedback: Ask teachers, peers, or writing professionals to provide feedback on your writing. Constructive criticism can help you identify areas for improvement.
• Study grammar and punctuation: Understanding the rules of grammar and punctuation is crucial for producing high-quality writing. Take the time to study these rules and apply them to your writing.
• Learn from successful writers: Study the works of successful writers and analyze their writing techniques. Try to incorporate some of these techniques into your own writing.

Practice Regularly

One of the key ways to improve your essay writing skills and increase your chances of winning competitions is to practice regularly. Writing is a skill that improves with practice, so make time each day to write essays, articles, or even short stories. Set aside dedicated time to work on your writing, and challenge yourself to explore different topics and styles.

By practicing regularly, you’ll not only improve your writing technique but also build confidence in your abilities. This confidence will show in your competition entries and set you apart from other participants. Remember, practice makes perfect, so the more you write, the better you’ll become.

Seek Feedback and Editing

Getting feedback on your essay is crucial to improving it and making it stand out in competitions. Don’t be afraid to ask teachers, peers, or writing tutors to review your work and provide constructive criticism.

Consider joining a writing group or workshop where you can share your essay and receive feedback from other writers. This can help you identify weak points in your argument or areas where you can improve your writing style.

After receiving feedback, be open to making edits and revisions. Polish your essay by fixing grammar and punctuation errors, tightening up your arguments, and ensuring your ideas flow logically and cohesively.

Remember, the more eyes you have on your essay, the better it will become. Don’t hesitate to seek feedback and editing to make your essay the best it can be.

Hook Your Readers

One of the most important aspects of winning an essay writing competition is grabbing the reader’s attention right from the start. Your introduction should be compelling and draw the reader in, making them want to continue reading. Here are some effective ways to hook your readers:

• Start with a powerful quote: Using a thought-provoking quote at the beginning can set the tone for your essay and intrigue your readers.
• Pose a question: Asking a question can engage your readers and make them curious to find out the answer, encouraging them to keep reading.
• Provide a shocking statistic: Sharing a surprising statistic can capture your readers’ interest and make them want to learn more about the topic.
• Share a personal anecdote: Connecting with your readers on a personal level by sharing a relevant anecdote can make your essay more relatable and engaging.
• Use descriptive imagery: Painting a vivid picture with descriptive language can transport your readers into the world you’re describing, making them more invested in your essay.

By hooking your readers from the beginning, you set the stage for a captivating essay that will leave a lasting impression on the judges of the competition.

State Your Thesis Clearly

One of the most important aspects of winning an essay writing competition is to state your thesis clearly in the introductory paragraph. Your thesis is the main argument or point you will be making in your essay, and it serves as the foundation for your entire piece. Make sure your thesis is specific, debatable, and concise. Avoid vague statements and ensure that your thesis directly addresses the prompt provided for the competition.

Tip: Your thesis should be strong and compelling, drawing the reader in and establishing the purpose of your essay from the start. It should be clear enough that your reader can easily understand what you will be arguing throughout the rest of your essay.

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