Several Harding students and staff members are training for 10Ks, half-marathons and marathons this semester.

Maggie Hlasta, Shantih club sponsor and admissions secretary, ran her first 10K on March 1. Hlasta is writing a blog about her running journey called “Maggie Jane Speaks.”

“I’ve been blogging for many years, but I decided to start writing about running this past year when I decided I was going to run a half marathon at the end of the year,” Hlasta said. “I started it for my family and people who lived far away so they could keep up with it. By doing the blog, I want to inspire others to just go out there and do it, no matter what your preconceived ideas of runners are.”

Hlasta said she wanted to be more active and do something that would not cost a lot of money. She came up with a running schedule and plan based off of Jeff Galloway, an Olympic marathon runner.

“It’s not even to lose weight; to me it’s more about feeling better about myself in a positive way and (to) have better self-esteem,” Hlasta said.

Sophomore Courtney Meason has run three half marathons since she started running, and is currently training for a full marathon on April 12 in Dallas, Texas. Although Meason has had a successful year, she only began running in March 2014.

“I didn’t really ever run in high school,” Meason said. “I was in marching band, and that was the only physical activity that I did. I got to college, I wasn’t really doing anything so I wanted to do something to be healthier overall. I started running, and at first, I didn’t really enjoy it, but I had really supportive friends who told me I could do it.”

Meason said she owes a lot of her success to her friends because they were extremely supportive and held her accountable. However, she said her biggest struggle was being patient with herself.

“I was really discouraged because it took a long time to work up to three miles,” Meason said. “That’s not something that happened overnight. Set a goal for yourself, like a 5K. That’s attainable. Don’t start running and then expect to run a marathon.”

Senior Cierra Boehmler recently ran her first 10K, and said that although getting motivated was hard, she felt better once she started running. Boehmler is planning to run in the St. Jude’s half marathon in Memphis on Dec. 5.

“I never have been a runner, but one day I woke up and realized that this is my prime and that I would never become a runner or get in shape if I didn’t start,” Boehmler said.