Imagine running a marathon. Impossible, right? Most people dread running the mile in gym class, let alone running a whole 26.2 miles. Well, senior Lindsey Gevers trained all summer to do just that. She set her heart out to run a marathon, and run a marathon she did.

“I love running, and running a marathon is the top race you can do as a runner. I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could do it,” Gevers said.

After 29 weeks of training, Gevers placed second in her division (female 19 and under) during the Cowbell Marathon in St. Charles on Sunday, Oct. 2. She ran the entire marathon, placed 156 out of 544, and finished with a time barely over four hours.

“I did surprise myself with how well I did,” Gevers said. “When I first signed up for the race, I put my estimated time as 5:15, however, after months of training I finished with a time of 4:08, over an hour faster,” Gevers said.

To help support Lindsey in her run, some of her teachers, fellow tennis players, and close friends showed up at the race, taking it into their hands to make signs.

“She’s probably one of my closest friends, and I know it’s really important to her,” Kylie Seaton said.

Gevers knew a few of her friends would be there, yet she got quite the surprise when she ran by and realized how many people were there.

“Seeing my friends standing there at mile 17 was extremely beneficial, because I knew I would pass by them again when I looped back around. So after I passed them the first time I just kept telling myself to keep going, keep running because I would be able to feel that support and motivation again soon,” she said.

In March, Gevers began training when she simply started running around her neighborhood.

“I had a training plan and some days would say how many miles to run and so I’d just go out and do that amount for that day,” Gevers said.

While running a marathon is in itself a challenge, Gevers thought the hardest part she endured was the training and sacrifices that came with it. She woke up early in order to beat the heat, which amounted to going to bed earlier and not staying out as late with her friends.

Along with early bedtimes and mornings, Gevers also changed her diet.

“I eliminated a lots of sugars and stuff because it slowed me down and made me feel sluggish so I tried to stick to really healthy foods,” Gevers said.

The marathon was both a mental and physical challenge for Gevers, who said it sometimes gets boring running for that long.

Gevers notes that she does plan on running another marathon. She just doesn’t know soon yet.

“It’s a big time commitment,” she said, “People don’t realize how much time it can really be.”