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From the "Ouachitonian": Alyssa Delker

January 01, 2020
Previously published in the 2018 Ouachitonian yearbook. 

Training for a marathon gave Alyssa Delker more purpose than she ever expected. Delker, a senior business administration/marketing major from Mansfield, Texas, interned in Chicago with a multinational organization that sought to bring clean water to those in need through running races. On Oct. 15, in Grand Rapids, Mich., Delker ran what she once thought never possible.

According to Delker, training was arguably the best and worst time. She knew it would be physically draining and that it would stretch her. However, through her training, Delker learned discipline and grace.

“You need discipline badly to do it because it’s an almost everyday thing. I learned to do things even when I didn’t want to. But I also learned grace. One day I just cried about it because I felt like a failure, but I learned quickly that I couldn’t allow myself to respond that way. You have to recognize when your body needs rest and just be OK with it,” said Delker.

The morning of the marathon, Delker felt her nerves disappear and felt at peace. But at the starting line, fear began to creep in.

“I traveled so far to run the marathon that I didn’t know a soul who was running. Normally you train with a group and build support, but I didn’t have that. That was beginning to weigh on me,” said Delker.

The skies had been completely clear all morning long, but right before the race started it began to rain and continued for the full 26.2 miles. A woman who was also alone said, “We both need body heat!” and grabbed Delker’s arm.

“Her name was Heather, and she was 43 and running the half marathon. We ended up running eight miles together and only split because that’s when the course changed for full and half runners. I don’t know if I could have done it without her. It made the 8 miles fly by,” said Delker.

Through prayer and Heather’s encouragement, Delker found strength to continue by herself.

“At mile 25 I started crying and sprinted the whole last mile,” said Delker.“I wanted to be done so bad. I was so hungry and in so much pain. Four and a half hours later, I never thought the finish line would come. It was all worth it, and 42 kids now have clean water.”

By Dani Droste


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