Senior runs her third marathon
Running teaches athlete valuable lessons
October 4, 2015
Senior Dorothy Slater runs the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul with 11,473 participants as they strive to accomplish one common goal: running 26.2 miles.
Slater said she found her love of running during freshman year. She joined track and gained an atmosphere where she could be a part of a team and work towards a common goal.
“I loved all the girls and fell in love with running,” Slater said. “I liked having something I could work hard at and improve on.”
Four years into her running career, Slater said she will participate in her third marathon Oct. 4 by running in her first Twin Cities Marathon.
“I’m really excited because it’s supposed to be the most beautiful urban marathon in the United States,” Slater said.
Slater focused on her preparation and pushed herself leading up to the race. She said running shorter distances on weekdays and farther distances on weekends created a beneficial pattern for her training.
“I have good days and bad days of training,” Slater said. “Either way I push through and trust my body will be able to adjust.”
Slater said her goal is to improve her time from her last race. Her realistic time is to finish under 4:15:00, faster than the average time of 4:18:33, according to M Tech Results.
Having a positive attitude throughout the whole race is her main goal. Slater said she does not want to focus all of her efforts on numbers.
“I do not want it to become so strenuous that I’m not enjoying it,” Slater said. “For me it’s the actual premise of it and not the time. I do it because I love it and I don’t want to forget that.”
Slater said she emphasizes the importance of representing the high school population during the race and credits the sport to building her character.
“People who run and run marathons have to be very open minded, dedicated and compassionate towards themselves and other people,” Slater said. “I think those are very important characteristics to build in high schoolers because it’s not really something we learn in school.”
Slater said running in marathons gives her a confidence booster and makes her feel as if she can accomplish anything.
“I love accomplishing something I’ve worked so hard towards,” Slater said. “After I run a marathon I feel like I can do anything.”
Slater said she encourages others her age to participate in the event. Her accomplishments have taught her age does not matter and if she puts her mind towards something she will get the results she wants.
“I think people should know that anyone can run a marathon,” Slater said. “It’s more mental, if you want to do it and if you believe in yourself you can accomplish anything.”
