Marathon Finisher Jacket
I. Intro (Approximately 30 seconds – 1 min.)
A. Attention Getter: How many of you would run from Dodger Stadium to the Santa Monica Pier? The LA Marathon is one of the largest marathons in the nation with over 25,000 participants every year.
B. Revealed Object and Speaker Credibility: This Marathon Finisher jacket represents many things to a marathon runner. I think it is important to let people know about it. Running a marathon is a challenge and it can be very intimidating. After being part of those 25,000 participants for four years, I know the challenges that come along with running a marathon.
C. Thesis: By learning more about my jacket, you will have a better understanding of the running culture.
D. Preview of main points: First, I will discuss the Marathon Finisher jacket, and how it represents the running culture, Then, I will discuss how I identify with both this culture, and the jacket.
II. Body (Approximately 3-4 minutes)
A. The Marathon Finisher jacket is a symbol of the men and women who took on the challenge of running 26.2 miles and successfully finished.
1. Sub-point 1: The LA Marathon originated in 1986 after being inspired by the success of 1984 Summer Olympic Games, which was the first Olympic Games to include female runners, which were held in Los Angeles. It is a historic race that invites runners from around the world to take place to tour Los Angeles as they run through major landmarks of the city. The objective of this race is to encourage the vast amount of athletes that take part of this to accomplish a difficult challenge that not many people dare to do. Anyone who is at least 16 years of age can take part in running the marathon. Most of the participants are male runners but female runners also have an interest in taking part of this. The jacket represents strength and bravery because not everyone can take on a marathon.
2. The LA Marathon runners make it successful. The males make up 60% of the participants while the women make up the other 40%. As of 1989, more than 51,000 middle school and high school students from 170 schools throughout Los Angeles have taken on the marathon and more than 95% of those students finish the full marathon. No one is look down on in this because everyone supports each other to accomplish the same goal of completing the marathon even if it means having to slow down due to painful cramps and blazing hot weather. Everyone who takes part becomes part of one big running family. Everyone that is a marathon finisher has an item to show that they overcame the difficult task of running such long distance.
Transition: I just discussed how the jacket represents the running culture, I will now tell you how I identify with this culture.
B. Main point 2: I have been part of running since high school and have grown to consider myself part of the running culture.
1. Sub-point 1: At first I never expected to be part of the running culture. I joined cross country and track at my high school and I decided I wanted to be a part of the culture because my high school coach saw potential in me while running. I thought it was a good decision but felt uneasy once I started doing long distance runs. I knew it was going to be difficult and harder for me because I did not have prior experience on running long distances before high school. I knew I wasn’t the fastest or slowest runner and for that I had to grow accustomed to spending afterschool and my weekends in order to train for marathon.
2. Sub-point 2: I joined Students Run LA (SRLA) which is a program for 51,000 students in Los Angeles that want to run the marathon. They provide training for us from September until March and provided us with two pairs of running shoes and our uniform gear for the marathon. Being part of 51,000 SRLA runners made me feel better than when I first started running because I would see friends that I hadn’t seen in years and as well had the opportunity to meet other fellow runners that were at my pace and we bonded throughout the training and led to having a group of us to have to run the marathon in March instead of having to run the marathon alone surrounded with strangers along the way.
3. Sub-point 3: I had heard stories from my classmates that had ran the marathon in previous years and how they said it always gets tough towards the end. My first LA Marathon was back in 2010 when I was a freshman in high school. Once I was at the starting line I realized what I was getting myself into and I felt like giving up even before I even started. But I had my friends next to me and we supported each other throughout the gruesome 26.2 miles. I have to admit that halfway through the marathon I was already feeling tired but I didn’t stop because I had the mentality that if I already did half of it I could finish the other half. As the finish line drew closer my exhaustion was growing but I kept thinking to myself that if stopped right there I could finish the rest by walking. Then I remembered that there were people on the streets cheering all the runners and encouraging us to continue running to the finish and I felt kind of shy thinking that I would be seen walking by hundreds or even thousands of people. Once I finished my first marathon instead of feeling like dying and being sore I actually felt some excitement once I was given the jacket which was like a trophy that I had actually accomplished my goal of finishing and becoming the first one in my family to run a marathon. From that day on, I decided that I would continue to run and take on more marathons and finish them. I look back at the jacket and it reminds me of the effort I put into earning it and how it was worth every strength in my body and it’s also signifies that success is rewarded. C. Conclusion:
1. Restate Thesis: Now you have a better understanding of the Marathon Finisher jacket and the running culture it represents.
2. Review Main Points: First, I discussed the Marathon Finisher jacket and how it represents this culture, and then I informed you all about my experience in running culture and how I use the jacket as a sign of accomplishment. Because it is one thing to start a marathon but it is another to actually finishing a marathon.
3. Memorable Closer: I never thought that I would go from being a child watching the marathon pass through my neighborhood to being part of the marathon in the future. Now I understand why people say expect the unexpected.

Work Cited

1. Russell, Tracey. "General Information." LA Marathon -. LA Marathon, Web. 05
Oct. 2014.