By Steve Seepersaud
A warm and humid day in early November in New York sounds great unless you're a runner. By that point of the year, your body has started to get used to the cooler temperatures.
Warm and humid certainly aren't ideal for a person's first marathon, but Tatiana Rivera '20 survived it, completing the New York City Marathon Nov. 6, in 5:44:22. She credits a new friend she made on the bus ride to the start line with whom she ran the entire race, the support of her mentor who also ran in the marathon, and cheering crowds including friends and family and someone wearing a Binghamton shirt.
"[Race day] was really a day to celebrate and bring together the last few months of training," Rivera said. "I feel so grateful to have experienced such an electric day and meet so many incredible people. I was really there to take it all in and I did just that. Keeping the promises we make to yourselves is everything. I made this promise with myself in March and having run it eight months later was an indescribable feeling and a reminder that we're capable of doing hard things!"
Rivera has always had an active lifestyle, but is a relative newcomer to running. She's been a runner for about five years, and got started not long after arriving in Binghamton.
"I've always loved fitness and knew movement was a very important part of my life," Rivera said. "Before college, I danced competitively and loved it. When school started and extra-curriculars ramped up, I needed a new activity [that was a better fit for my] schedule. As many people do, I gravitated first to the treadmill and slowly kept increasing my speed and distance. Running helped me clear my mind and was a huge contributor to balancing my mental health in college."
After graduating from Binghamton with a bachelor's degree in business administration, she became an enterprise technology solutions associate at PwC. The bitter cold last winter deterred Rivera from getting her sneakers on and getting the miles in. When she decided to recommit to running, she found a way to make it really interesting for herself.
"I felt the only thing that would get me back into the discipline would be setting a goal. I knew I wanted to run a marathon at some point and that point became this year!"
In June, her marathon training intensified, and she increased her mileage and paid closer attention to sleep, nutrition, hydration, stretching and strength training. Many New York City Marathon runners get into the race via a lottery or by agreeing to raise funds for an affiliated charity. Rather than taking a chance on her number being called, Rivera decided to fundraise for Rising NYRR, which provides free youth programs for kids focusing on fitness, nutrition and goal setting.
"Clubs, teams and all sorts of extracurriculars have played a truly impactful part in my life growing up, in college and in my life now," Rivera said. "The opportunity to have people cheering for you, a community that becomes your friends and learning to move and take care of your body and health could not be more important for a child. I am so honored to run for this organization!"
As the body takes time to recover from going the distance of 26.2 miles, the heart and soul will smile when holding the finisher's medal, seeing photos from the race and reflecting on the experience and everything it took to reach the finish line.
"I feel so grateful," Rivera said. "I've built a strong relationship with my body and myself in general. I've met beautiful humans from all backgrounds. I have felt so loved by my friends and family that have supported me and Team for Kids.
"Now that it's over, it's a bittersweet feeling. I'll never forget that day and the journey leading up to it. I look forward to recovering and — I can't believe I'm saying this — signing up again for next year!"
