Last Sunday, on December 9, two runners from Flower Mound High School’s cross country team participated in the 2012 Dallas Marathon.

Juniors Zach Hamstra and Wesley Ward competed in the relay and both finished their legs in approximately 10 minutes. Hamstra’s leg was 2.5 miles long while Ward’s was 2 miles long.  Their parents ran the rest of the race, taking the longer legs of 10, 6 and 4.7 miles.

Their relay team’s name was the Jaguars’, and consisted of Hamstra, Ward, and their parents.

“Running in the Dallas Marathon was an amazing experience,” Hamstra said. “The amount of people that were cheering you on during the race would give that boost of energy to push on for those last few miles.”

The number of people that ran the marathon and half-marathon was stunning; there was a total of 15,075 participants.

“I was surprised by how many people were running in the race,” Ward said. “There were so many people at the starting gate that we were all smushed together in an attempt to get to a better position at the start.”

The course took the runners along the new West Dallas Loop, across the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, and around White Rock Lake. The race came to a close with a quarter-mile straightaway to the finish line in front of the Dallas Convention Center.

“My favorite part of the race was the final straight to the finish,” Hamstra said. “You can look down the hill and see the finish line in the distance with rows of people holding signs as you come down the hill to the finish.”

The trail around White Rock Lake has been a central part of the race since the Dallas Marathon’s first run in 1971.

“I liked the run around White Rock Lake,” Ward said. “It added a scenic and elemental side to the race.”

Hamstra and Ward are eager to start a new tradition of sending FMHS cross country runners to the Dallas Marathon. In return, Dallas has welcomed them by providing them the experience of a lifetime.