Learning through distance running

If you saw me hobbling around campus on Monday looking as stiff as the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, it’s because I ran the LA Marathon this weekend — and I did it without really training.

In my defense, it’s been a really busy semester. As these are my last few months as a college student, I’ve been trying to make the most of them and be as social and present as I can be rather than going off on my own to run. As an unfortunate consequence of this, I have notched a miniscule number of miles under my belt as of late.

In light of that, most of the people in my life — especially my mom, who rightfully worries about me getting injured — did not understand why I was going to go through with this race.

But for me, there was never any question. The LA Marathon holds a very special place in my heart. I ran it last year for the first time and getting to do it again this year was nothing short of exhilarating.

I dumbly fell into cross-country running as a freshman in high school. Running brought purpose, determination and love into my life. I was fortunate enough to stumble into a team that had the kind of coaches who movies try to portray. I know I became a better person by running under those coaches. Running also helped me to make some of my lifelong friends among my fellow teammates, who for four years saw me through every 6 a.m. practice and never-ending meet.

Running has kept me going through college. I actually started school in Pittsburgh, and one of the best decisions I made was to join the school’s track team. Being a part of that team helped me to learn and love a new city and culture. Running around the city — even on snow days, which were an eye opener on their own — helped me get to forge my own relationship with the city.

It might sound petty, but one of the hardest adjustments to make when I transferred to USC was finding ways to run here. At first glance, Downtown Los Angeles does not seem runner-friendly, and my early attempts to train on the hard cement only served to give me plantar fasciitis (a.k.a. “Jogger’s Heel”). But like anything, you find ways to adjust. I did physical therapy, found better shoes to buffer my legs for the city streets and eventually learned to embrace running in the city.

You build a special relationship with a city by running it. Consequently, running has helped me to form a soft spot for Downtown — its buildings, its people — OK, maybe not its smells, but hey, you can’t have everything. Finding a way to run here made me want to do my first marathon here. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think going from not knowing where to run to doing 26.2 miles around the city felt like an incredible thing to me. I’m so glad I did.

There is no better way to see Los Angeles than by running or walking the LA Marathon. People say — and rightfully so — that Los Angeles is a driving city. People also say — perhaps rightfully so — that people here can feel aloof and separated by their zip codes. For at least one day a year, I can say with certainty that neither of these stereotypes is true. The LA Marathon not only makes the city accessible by foot, it also erases any zip code distinction. Each year, when the marathon starts at Dodger Stadium, they play Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” Somehow, under the almost supernatural glow of the stadium lights in the early hours of the morning, that song has never felt more accurate. All 25,000 racers really do feel like one big happy Angeleno family.

The race, which goes from “stadium to sea,” where it suitably ends at the Santa Monica Pier, gives you a taste of all different parts of Los Angeles. From Chinatown to Sunset Boulevard, you get a sampling of all of what makes this city great. You can also tell the cool parts of town by where the American Apparel stores are. We passed at least four of them, by my unofficial count. But more than the geography, it is the volunteers and the people who get up early to line the course that really make the city come alive.

The running community of Los Angeles is incredible. You’d assume that most spectators are there to cheer for the people they know, but that doesn’t stop them from lending their support to all of the runners. So many people hold signs along the course that say something like, “I’m proud of you, random stranger.” The absolutely amazing volunteers who line the course with water, Gatorade and food are what make the race feasible. I was too tired to realize this last year, but incredibly, there are also a number of spectators who bring their own food and beverages to help support the racers — to the person who gave me that grape ice pop near mile 13, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Recently, the LA Marathon was granted the honor of hosting the 2016 Olympic Team Trials for the men’s and women’s marathon. I hope the recognition will make more people aware of distance running and Los Angeles. Because, at least for me, running the city has been the most spectacular way to know the city and, in a way, the people who inhabit it. I want more people to be able to experience that. Because, to quote a hashtag for the LA Marathon on Twitter: #werunla.

Jackie Mansky is a senior majoring in print and digital journalism. Her column, City of Angeles, runs Tuesdays.