Victoria Lockwood
Guest Writer
It’s hot, your lungs are on fire, there’s a blister on your heel the size of your big toe, and you finally understand the term “sweating bullets.” Is this hell, or are you about to finish your first marathon?
It’s the latter, at least told from the perspective of Jasmine Bermudez. Bermudez, 21, is a student at City College. However, unlike most college students, she spends her free time training for marathons, not beer pong.
“Growing up I never really liked running,” says Bermudez. “But now if I don’t run at least two miles a day I feel off.”
Working full time at Starbucks, and taking four classes a semester, Bermudez has a very limited amount of free time, and even less excess energy. But she believes any goal is possible to achieve as long as you make it a priority.
“Of course, there are days when I get home and want nothing more than to stay in bed for the night,” Bermudez says with a laugh. “But there’s nothing to be accomplished from my mattress.”
Bermudez also comes from a large, combined family and is often seen driving around with at least one of her younger siblings in tow. Some of them even join her on runs.
“I like running with my sister,” says Ally Bermudez, 17. “We usually go along the Sacramento River at sunset when the weather has cooled down a bit. It’s pretty, and we get to spend time together in a way different than the rest of our family.”
After moving out to live on her own earlier this year, Jasmine doesn’t get to see her family as much as she used to. She runs with her sister, a perfect way for them to spend quality time together.
Their mother, Michelle Bermudez, also thinks it’s sweet her daughters run together. “I couldn’t be prouder of Jazzy,” says Michelle. “She is inspiring to her younger siblings, and as a parent there’s really not much more you can ask for.”
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Jasmine didn’t start running marathons until after her uncle convinced her to do a mud run with him. A mud run is a running obstacle that, as you might have guessed it, involves a substantial amount of mud.
“I knew both me and Jasmine were new at this running thing,” says Ed Fong, with a nervous smile playing across his face. “It took me a little while to convince her, but once she was on board her determination was unparallelled. She eventually became my encouragement to run.”
Fong says his niece would show up at his house every morning at 6 a.m. so they could run together before he went to work. He even ended up losing 15 pounds.
After they completed the mud run, Jasmine started signing up for more runs. After a year of working her way up to half marathons, she finally signed up for her first marathon.
“Even just signing up for it was terrifying,” says Jasmine. “But I knew my family was going to be there to support me and that made me believe in myself.”
The Bermudez family stood at the finish line, clutching their signs reading, “Run, Jazzy, Run!” and, “We Love You!” They had been there since 8 a.m. When the marathon started, it was hot and crowded. But it was all worth it once they saw her getting closer to the finish line.
“We couldn’t stop screaming,” laughed Michelle. “We probably looked like crazy people. We just couldn’t control ourselves. It was such a climactic, emotional moment. I would be lying if I said tears weren’t shed.”
Despite countless blisters, pulled muscles and even a missing toenail, Jasmine couldn’t be happier. Few things are as satisfying as accomplishing your goals, but completing this marathon was more than that to Jasmine.
“Running is a big part of who I am,” says Jasmine. “Through this process I have found one of my passions. An additional perk is that it’s also made me closer with my family. Whenever I don’t feel like running alone, I can call my sister or my uncle to join me. It’s become a really personal, bonding experience. I hope one day I’ll be able to call anyone in my family to go on a run with me.”
To the average person, running 26.2 miles may sound like an impossible feat. However, Jasmine Bermudez is anything but average.
