As junior Nya Seals runs down Congress, watching the full marathon runners stride past her, she spontaneously decides to throw the half marathon out the window and take the fork in the road to the full marathon path. Unlike most runners, who spent months preparing for the 13.1-mile half marathon, Seals decided to take on the challenge with barely any preparation and focused training. 

Unlike most runners, who spent months preparing for the 13.1-mile half marathon, Seals decided to take on the challenge with barely any preparation and focused training. 

“I just thought it would be a really great experience and something fun to do before I turned 17,” Seals said. “To be honest, I didn’t really train before. I’m in cross-country, so I’m used to running 5 or 6 miles a day.” 

Seals’s background as a cross-country runner prepared her, but 26.2 miles was not something she had specifically trained for..

“I did my first 10 miles the week before the marathon, so I felt good about it,” Seals said. “I was originally just signed up for the half, so it would have only been 13.1 miles, but I got to about mile 12 and felt great, so I just decided to do the full.”

Even though Seals has run cross country throughout highschool, running a full marathon under short notice is a big challenge as most runners take 16 to 20 weeks constantly training for the same event. 

“My biggest challenge was once I got to mile 20, I was really exhausted and had to have a really good mentality about finishing,” Seals said. “I stayed motivated mostly by just staying in the moment and having fun with all the people I met during the race.”

Despite mental and physical challenges, Seals managed to push through the marathon. Meeting new people throughout the run helped her keep going until the end. 

“Crossing the finish line was so rewarding,” Seals said. “They called my name over the speakers as I finished. After the race I got to Juiceland and then saw some of my friends who had come to the race, which was so much fun.”