Diploma Dash raises money for scholarships and promotes Alumnus at our school. You get a good workout and it’s for a good cause.

Two weeks before the Diploma Dash I hurt myself during Taekwondo Club practice when a sparring partner kicked my shin with destructive, life-threatening force. If his kick was near any of my vital organs, I might have been killed. It was that bad. Anyways, excuse my exaggeration, but after the injury, I wasn’t able to walk without limping for two days. What’s worse, I couldn’t walk without feeling pain until three days before the diploma dash. Because of my shin, I didn’t prepare for the event properly, and I trained inconsistently because of the pain.

The thing is when I don’t work out, I tend to harbor bad attitudes and I binge eat a lot. One time, I ate a Big Mac, medium fries, one Hot’n’spicy, one McDouble and a cookie at McDonalds. I ate like this at least three or four times a week. My motivation was out of wack, and when I worked out, my heart wasn’t there.

Although my shin hurt for two weeks, I found motivation in an instant. Luckily, it was right before the race.

On February 25, a Korean athlete, Kim Yu-Na won gold in figure skating at the Winter Olympics. She completely captured my heart. Watching a fellow Korean win gold at the Olympics moved me. It made me want to work out again. It made me want to try harder in school and train harder for Taekwondo. What makes her really awesome is that I don’t know a single thing about figure skating, and still, she captured my attention. I couldn’t do anything except be amazed by her performance. If you don’t know her, then you should look her up, because she’s definitely an inspirational athlete, whether you’re Korean or not.

The night before Diploma Dash, I went to the rec center and worked out intensely. I ran a mile, did core training and hit the weights.

The morning of the Diploma Dash, I cooked lots of egg whites, prepared a bowl of Wheaties and had a cup of orange juice for breakfast, and it made me extremely full. Fortunately, I woke up at 6:41, about two hours and 20 minutes before the Dash started, plenty of time for my stomach to settle.

When I got to the race, I started at the back of the pack. This way I wouldn’t have to be clumped by the huge crowd and walk at the start of the race. Also, when you run past all the walkers, it gives you a good self-esteem boost.

For me the hardest part of the race was at two miles. Nothing tires you more than knowing that you only have a mile left to run. However, what kept me going were all the other people running around me, and passing people that run slow takes away some of that fatigue of your last mile.

I learned three things participating at my first running event. Start at the back of the race, usually when you’re in the middle you have to start slowly and that increases your time. Secondly, don’t try to drink the water people hand out. It’s awkward to drink out of a cup when you run. I almost chocked trying to drink it. Finally, after passing someone say, “Sucker” in your head. It’ll keep you going.

The Diploma Dash was fantastic. The weather was perfect, and I learned new things. I know I didn’t run my best, but I’ll do better next time.

Diploma Dash raises money for scholarships and promotes Alumnus at our school. You get a good workout and it’s for a good cause.