As the 2026 New York City Marathon took place, Francis Ayala and Justin Chapura proudly represented Bronx River High School. Once they had time to rest up, the two shared shared their journey of preparation, motivation and the achievements they felt as they crossed the finish line.

Francis Ayala explained that he had been training for two years to qualify for the marathon on Nov. 2 “You have to do nine races in one year to qualify for the next race,” he said, describing the dedication and patience it took to reach that point. He trained through different seasons, managing early morning runs, long weekend miles and busy workdays. His hard work finally paid off when he finished the 26.2-mile course with a time of 4 hours and 30 minutes, averaging about 10 minutes and 18 seconds per mile. Each mile represented months of preparation and commitment that brought him to that moment.

When asked how he stayed motivated during training, Ayala said, “I want to be a good example to my kids.”

This purpose kept him focused even when things got tough. He also started making healthier choices to support his training. “I stopped eating junk and ate more protein and drank more water,” he said. These changes helped him feel stronger and more disciplined as the race approached, showing how determination and self-care worked together throughout his journey.

Crossing the finish line was a big moment for Ayala. It was his first marathon, and after two years of work, he finally achieved his goal. “I qualify so I will attend the next race,” he said.

Justin Chapura has ran the marathon twice now. This time, he began training in May, although throughout the summer his training was on and off. Before the race he stored up on carbohydrates. “Four days before the race I had 10 full everything bagels on top of unlimited pasta with my friends on Friday night, and Saturday morning I had six pancakes,he said, explaining that the whole idea is to store energy prior to the race.

During the race, many thoughts were going through Chapura’s mind. “Oh my god, oh my god, I’m going too fast,” or, “Oh my god, Oh my god, I’m going too slow,” he said.

He would see his teammates and tell them, “Hey, you’re doing OK. You got this” in order to motivate his team since he was thinking about them a lot.

Two minutes into the race, Chapura realized his ankles were hurting and so were his knees. “Oh my god, I’m only a mile into this course and we still have 25 to go, please don’t let me start hurting” he said.

He felt like he was getting injured, but he was determined to finish, and most of all determined to beat his old record. A lot of mixed emotions between his team, people cheering him on, and thoughts of pain and trying to beat his previous time.

His record this year was four hours, 42 minutes, and 53 seconds. He improved by 23 whole minutes compared to his last race. “This means I shaved a minute off of every mile,” he said..

Finally crossing the finish line brought many mixed emotions upon Chapura. “It wasn’t as bad as last year; last year I was actually crying because it hurt so bad.” he said.

“It’s a delayed gratification,’’ he said. “ You can’t even think about the finish line until you’re almost there. If you start thinking about it, you’ll never finish.”

It felt good because he knew he’d break his time. “I was actually doing better than last time,” he said.

Thinking back on the race he’d realize everything, “I can’t believe I actually got through the Bronx and didn’t barf, I can’t believe I crossed the bridge in the right time, I can’t believe I survived going too fast in Queens,” he said.

You realize everything you’ve done and how far you have came, he said.

In order to recover, he didn’t go to school. “Weirdly, it’s [the marathon] is always the weekend before elections, we still had online work but we didn’t have to come to the building.” He also went with his friend to get massages. “One of my run buddies, we went and we got massages together,” and he exclaims how amazing it was. He got compression boots to squeeze his legs, “it was the most incredible feeling…holy crap,” he said.

After marathons in big cities, he said some places give out free food on Monday if you come with your medal. “It was the most painful way to get some free sushi once a year, but it pays off so I can’t complain.”