I am not a runner; I have never liked running. When friends from La Sierra and my church decided to sign up for the Spartan Sprint, my immediate thought was to not join them. A race just under four miles long with 20 obstacles scattered throughout the course and a burpee punishment for failed obstacles seemed quite unappealing to me.
I don’t know exactly how it happened, but a couple of weeks later, I found myself registering for the race along with Brian Hwang. The time slot the church group had signed up for was full, and we had to register for a later start time. We started recruiting other people to join us so that we wouldn’t have to race alone, and pretty quickly we had Brendon Wilson and Jason Tedjakusnadi onboard. We registered together as the “3 and a Half Asians” but kept spreading the word until eventually, our team grew to include Gerald Cheng, John Sumilat, Steven Tran, Justin Seo, Kay Kim, and Terrence Nguyen. Ten total, seven from the Honors Program.
On Sunday afternoon, January 27, our team made its way to Prado Regional Park in Chino for the Spartan Sprint. The now “9 and a Half Asians” took pictures, warmed up, and practiced a few of the obstacles before lining up to start the race. Before long, the announcer was counting down “3…2…1…” and off we went.
To be honest, the race was a blur. There are only a few things that I remember clearly. One was the team effort needed to complete the obstacles. The ten of us ran together, encouraging each other along the way. We were all at different levels of fitness, but we managed to get through everything as a group. It was amazing to see the strengths each individual had as well as how we used those strengths to complete the course. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed doing physical activities with others, but the race brought the team spirit out in me, and it was nice to participate with others from the Honors Program.
It was also inspiring to see just how many people were running the race alongside us. There were men and women of all different races, ages, and sizes going through the same struggles as were we. There was a special sense of camaraderie born through our joint adventures of crawling under barbed wire, jumping into mud, and overcoming the other obstacles.
The sense of achievement that I got when we crossed the finish line sticks out in my memory as well. We were tired, muddy, and cold, but the fact that we had reached the end made battling through the obstacles worth it. It wasn’t about the time we took to finish but the fact that we did finish. I felt accomplished and energized walking away from the Sprint with my medal and T-shirt.
I felt so motivated, in fact, that I signed up for the Spartan Beast at Big Bear and the Super in Monterey with Brian. Once we have run the two races, 13 miles and 8 miles long respectively with obstacles, we will have completed a Trifecta. Of course, these races will require more training, but I am excited to challenge myself over the next couple of months. Let me assure you, though, I am still not a runner.
– Casey Jang, Class of 2020