![At a group practice, sophomore Layla Gutierrez sings, while seniors Armando Gutierrez and Jaden Cerna play the electric bass and guitar. “It’s cool being in a band with [my sister], but though we’re related, sometimes our ideas in the creative process differ and cause some conflicts,” Armando said. (@hopelesssamaritanband)](https://alisaltrojantribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/067cae3d6e7e8d0fd59cd886c8c689dbc703ed15-14-1033x1200.jpg)
Most seniors spend November through December fully focused on college applications. While this was also the case for senior Rosario Perez, she had something else on her plate. Perez was training and getting ready to run the California International Marathon, on December 7, 2025.
Perez’s brother, Alexis, was the one who got her into running. He also attended Alisal and started running his sophomore year of high school, which later inspired Rosario to start running as well. “I started running during 8th grade in track,” she said.
Since then, she has continued doing both track and field and cross country up until now, her senior year. Her main events in track and field are the mile and 2 mile. Perez said her experience on the cross country team did influence her to run the marathon, but she just did it because she wanted to. “I wanted to run the marathon because of my brother,” Perez said. “He was already going to sign up to do it and he recommended that I sign up too.”
Perez’s training started in the summer of 2025. “I trained 6 days a week, Monday through Saturday, and Sunday was a rest day,” she said. Her training included long runs with a few workouts here and there. “The longest I remember doing was 18 miles,” she said. “Everything after that just depended on me doing the rest of the mileage the day of.”
On the day of the marathon, Perez woke up at 3am, got ready, left at around 5am, and then began the race at around 7am. “I finished around 12pm,” she said.
She started off the race feeling cold and ended it feeling hot. “I felt really warm after finishing but then I cooled down and then I felt cold again,” she said. Perez ended her race with a time of 5:13:29 with an average pace of 11:58 per mile. “I didn’t really have a goal for myself,” she said. “I kind of just ran and hoped I ended up finishing.”
Overall, Perez finished 7,425 out of 8,168 runners, placed 2,650 out of 3,031 females, and ranked 11th out of 17 in the F1-19 age group. “I was so tired I could not stand up,” she said. “I was sore for like a week and a half.”
As for another marathon anytime soon, “I want to but I don’t know if I have the time,” Perez said. Overall, she enjoyed the experience and thought it was worth it in the end. “I really enjoyed it,” she said. “Finishing and being able to experience something new was my favorite part.”
