Entrevistamos a nuestro estudiante de Tufts, Dean Ericksen, que corrió la pasada maratón de Madrid.

Your first marathon?

Yes, this was my first marathon.

What did running the Madrid marathon mean to you? 

It meant a lot to me to run my first marathon here in Madrid. It was great to be able to run right on the streets of some places that I have become so familiar with over the past few months and also explore new parts of the city I had not seen yet. It also was another unique way for me to remember my time spent abroad.

How would you describe your experience with the audience during the Madrid marathon?

The people are what the marathon unforgettable. The other runners all giving it there all and seeing families of all ages cheering us on and asking for high fives made finishing the only option. It was a truly inspirational sight that made me feel like to have a healthy and functioning body.

Any tip for program students who want to race the Madrid Marathon in the future?

I think for anyone that is think about running a marathon in the future should do it. With proper training before the fact, anyone is capable of more than they think. And doing the half marathon or 10k is awesome too if you decide to those distances. They’re all a great accomplishment. Talking about specifically about the Madrid Marathon, you should make sure you can fit about 4 to 5 hours of running per week throughout the semester. I found this to not be a problem at all, since running is like a form of meditation, it can bring you down from the craziness of being abroad by slowing things down. It’s about running at a comfortable pace for long periods of time, not being the fastest!