Two days ago, on May 2, 2025, was the thirteenth anniversary of the accident that caused my TBI.  This year, to celebrate, I decided to run a 10k. Looking back during the last year, a lot of things happened that weren’t always easy but led me to where I am and what I achieved today.

This morning, I completed my second 10k race, a race that I have heard about my whole life, but never thought I would compete in until a few months ago. I started to get interested in doing this 10k when I heard people in my running group talk about how much they liked it and I thought, why not?

After I completed my first 10k last month, it became clearer to me that I could do this, I just wanted to finish the race faster this time. I knew I could do it if I just moved a little faster and didn’t get too distracted looking around. I kept a pretty good pace because I started the race with a friend who runs a little faster than I do, but as I I tried to keep up with her I set my pace a little faster than I usually do, and I was able to keep it that way. Also, hearing other people from my running group cheering for me, halfway through the race, gave me a boost and helped me keep going. 

Like always, when I saw that I was close to the end, I decided to give it one last push. After all that effort, I did what I set out to do which was not just to finish the race, but to finish faster than I finished my first 10k a few weeks ago. I ran the 10k or 6.2 miles in 1:17:32, 14 minutes faster that my first race like this. 

I’m really proud of myself as well as everyone else who showed up this morning before 6 AM to do this. It wasn’t easy and my feet hurt, but I had a great time! 

Now that that’s done, I need to find my next race!

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Published by mariacristinasanfeliu

I’m an aspiring writer still looking for exactly what I want to write about, with a lot of creativity, imagination and desire to write. I studied Writing and Rhetoric at Syracuse University where I explored many different sides of writing through my classes and extracurricular activities in order to narrow my search for an identity as a writer. I have written for Citrus TV Noticias and La Voz magazine, both of which gave me the chance to explore different mediums in which to write in. Through Citrus TV Noticias I also gained experience in translating from English to Spanish and vice versa, which is also something that I would be interested in working on since I am fluent in both of these languages. I was also an intern at Syracuse University Press where I got hands on experience in what goes into actually editing and publishing a book. Through out the last four years I have faced a lot of challenges, which helped chape the person I am today. After being in a tragic car accident, being in comma, having a Traumatic Brain Injury, and being in therapy for over a year, I am a new me, willing to face challenges and knowing how to deal with them. I want to write about my accident and life after it to help others, show them it can be done and help in any way I can.

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