APPLICANT #7: Is Jasmine Pondexter the Young & Free SC Spokesperson?
Y&F SC TeamJasmine Pondexter is a 20-year-old student from Charleston, South Carolina.
Here is Jasmine's video application:
Here is Jasmine's current situation:
"I am a junior at Emory University. My major is Spanish and I am minoring in Educational Studies. I am involved in some on campus groups, including a choir that goes on tour every year for four days. I decided this year that I want to run marathons as a lifelong hobby. I ran the first of many last Sunday, February 15th, 2009 in Dublin, Ohio. I am the oldest of three children and plan to attend graduate school in pursuit of a PhD in journalism. Being the Young & Free representative for South Carolina would be an amazing way to begin my career as a journalist. I hope you find me as exciting as I find this program."
Here is Jasmine's blog post:
"I ran my first marathon this past Sunday, February 15, 2009 in Dublin, Ohio. I woke up around 6:30 am assuming that the race began at 8:45. I picked up my T-Shirt, the running chip that would record my time and distance, and bib (the white paper you pin to your outfit with your number on it) and then went to eat breakfast. I was number 401.
I walked down to the lobby of the hotel around 8:15 am where I looked out and saw that there were already people running. I knew that there was also a 5k and 10k taking place that morning so I assumed that the participants in those events were the ones who were running. Around 8:20, I went out near the starting line and looked around for the other marathon runners who I assumed would be standing along the sidelines with me. I did not see many people who looked like runners. I asked an official when the marathon was supposed to begin and he looked at me incredulously and replied, "It already began." "Oh," I responded, "Should I just jump in there?" "I don't know," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
I had my times mixed up. I’m still not sure when the race actually began, but I couldn’t just back out because I was late. I had invested too many hours of training and too much money into this event to just quit. So I jumped in the race, not thinking about where I should start. The racing chip I had attached to my shoe recorded how many miles I ran and how fast I ran them, however, it was not activated until I crossed the starting line. When I jumped in, I began in front of the starting line, so it did not begin to record my distance until I had run my first full mile! Woe to the tardy and absent minded!
The race itself was difficult, but people on the sidelines and those running with me were so encouraging. I almost cried because I was so moved by some of their words. By mile 18 however, I wanted to cry for other reasons. My roommate could see that I was tired and struggling so she did the last five miles with me in her jeans and sneakers, which weren’t made for running. I was "running" so slowly that she was able to walk and keep pace with me and she encouraged me through the last bit of the race.
It was through divine intervention that my legs carried it to mile 26, which was actually mile 27. I am not sure of my official time, but it was something around 5 hours and 30 minutes. I swore sometime around mile 19 that I would never do it again. I recanted this vow after I met a man in the reception area who was in his late sixties and had run his 172nd marathon that day. He informed me that he has run a marathon in every continent except Antarctica and that in the past year and a half or so, he has run in 16 European countries. Then another man came up to us who was in his mid forties and told us that this was his 175th race and that he actually has run in Antarctica!!! Then he asked if we saw a man who had walked out of the room not long after I entered it and informed us that he would be going into the Guinness Book of World Records because this was his 600th marathon and that for the past year or so, he has been running two marathons a weekend!!! ???
I do not understand how a human body can survive something like that! Needless to say, I retracted my vow to never run another marathon. When I’m seventy, I want to be like that old man I met. He sounds like he is having quite the retirement, if he is even retired. Perhaps it gets easier with time. Perhaps it doesn’t. I like to believe that the best is yet to come.
Best, Jasmine"
The Y&F SC Team
