Twenty-six Oakland public high school students, their families and supporters came to the Finish Line Dinner and Awards Ceremony last Friday to celebrate. As participants in the Students Run Oakland (SRO) program, they had successfully completed the Los Angeles Marathon earlier this month -- 26.2 miles in 93 degree heat.

The smiles told the story. The students, speaking to the audience, provided the words. "It was fun sharing and participating with different schools. We did the half marathon in the freezing cold in San Francisco and my hair got messed up," kidded Kevin Brown. "SRO changed me and bettered my skills as a person. I did something I didn't think I could do and people were constantly saying I couldn't do it, was I crazy? Even if I had all that going on through my head and it felt like 200 degrees, I did it. I'll definitely do it next year. It's a family."

"It was fun. I lost four toenails. I'm planning to make a necklace out of them," said Edgar Herrera, who was moved to write his first poem, entitled No Limits: "It begins. The race is off. The wind blows in my face and I forget all my struggles and pain and it feels good to just focus on one thing. Focus on getting there to the end ... ."

They had been there for each other, coaxing each other not to give up, reassuring each other they could do it. Like a family.

Jessica Salgado and Alejandra Tejeda came up to the microphone together, shy and giggling.

"I didn't finish and everyone knows that," Tejeda said.

"But she tried her best," Salgado interrupted.

"Thank you for helping me out, Jessica, and for finishing the marathon for me."

"Even though she didn't finish, I'm proud of my friend," Salgado said. They walked away, laughing, their fingers intertwined.

"Kevin signed me up," recalled Hakeem Hallie. "He said, 'You want to run 26.2 miles?' I said, 'No, that ain't goin' to work.'" But he kept coming to the training, motivated by Spencer Hooper, the 30-something executive director of SRO. "He would always run by me and I thought I can't let that old man pass me. That was my motivation to keep moving. My grandma was my motivation for finishing. Now I can move forward on other things in my life that are giving me trouble, like geometry and other problems. Never give up. Keep trying at it, just like this marathon."

"I remembered Coach Alphonzo saying 'Mind over matter,'" said Kandi Thomas. "This was my second year and I felt better this year; I didn't hurt as much. Thinking of fried chicken helped." She and a couple of her teammates shouted out "pollo frito" and laughed.

"I want to thank everyone for all the support and encouragement." That's about as far as Mymy Dam got before she started tearing up. "I couldn't have made it without everyone's support. I was in pain with my injury. I don't mean to cry. The last mile I wanted to stop, I thought I can't do it. Nicky held my hand and we ran together and she said "You can do it. Let's come on and finish.'" That was it for holding back the tears.

"I was one of the ones who couldn't make it around the track once when I started," said Niema Jordan. "And I finished a marathon. What stuck in my mind were two things: the coach saying 'mind over matter,' and my dad saying, 'I don't care how you get across the finish line, walk or crawl. Just make it.' I'm happy I did it."

"Oh, my leg hurt. I can't do it," Maria Gonzalez remembered. "Coach Alphonzo said, 'You can do it. Finish.' I said, 'OK. I can do it.' I do it."

And Sergio Tejeda, the four-year veteran of the program and a graduating Castlemont senior:

"I am proud of everyone. This is a good experience for all Castlemont students. In the newspaper all you see is low test scores or someone got shot at the liquor store. The first time I did it, I thought forget this, I'm leaving. I was crying, my knees were hurting, but they pulled me in (encouraged me) and I kept moving. It was really, really hard. This year was fun. So much fun. It was a weekend I'll never forget. I'll be back next year as a volunteer."

They were the picture of Oakland's diversity, supporting each other, smiling, hugging, so proud of themselves and each other. It was pretty hard not to cry.

For more information visit studentsrunoakland.org.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
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