A woman explains her motivation for participating in the Little Rock Marathon

Little Rock, Arkansas – A woman from Arkansas, who was among the hundreds of participants in the 2024 Little Rock Marathon over the weekend, demonstrated a strong motivation that is presumably shared by anyone who completes a 26.2-mile race.

We had a conversation with Berenice Alfaro, who not only finished to fulfill her mother’s pride but also to fulfill her own aspirations.

“Back in December 2017 my mom was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer,” Alfaro explained. “And after that, my family focused more on a healthier lifestyle.”

They began their quest to a healthy living by walking in support of her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis. Through that lobbying, Alfaro discovered a new interest.

“From there, I discovered that I actually enjoy running,” Alfaro added.

Alfaro ran in his first marathon this past Sunday.

“[Runners] have so much adrenaline at the beginning that your only focus is just to start and finish. After a certain mile mark, you don’t even worry about seeing it anymore,” she said.

Alfaro reported that her mother, who has since survived breast cancer, was overjoyed that she had achieved her personal goal of running 26.2 miles.

“She’s very supportive. Sometimes she says, I’m a little crazy, for you know, trying to do the full marathon, but I’m glad I did it. I feel like it’s more meaningful when you have a story behind it versus just running a full marathon. Most likely, I’ll do it again. But it’s very special to me, and I will Facetime my mom as soon as we get off,” Alfaro described.

She added that she intends to continue running and that she invites others to do the same.

“I always tell people, it’s your own race. It’s your own pace. Find something that works for you. If running, running for me is my thing,” Alfaro said.

Alfaro stated that her next objective is to run in marathons outside of her state before progressing to international ones.