This article was written by Rino Raphael Joshy of Grade 9

A former Olympic runner once said, “Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running.”  Athletics is always encouraged in St.Peters and as a result, the students participated in a recent marathon conducted in the town.

On Saturday, the 25th of February 2017, there was a marathon around the Kodaikanal lake which was conducted by the Rotary Club of Kodaikanal. Many schools in and around Kodaikanal participated in the Lakeathon.

Mr. Praveen, an athletics coach from Chennai, began the Lakeathon by providing a brief introduction on the objective of the event and a few tips to follow while running. Our own St. Peter’s coach Mr. Baskar made all the participants do some warm up exercises before the race and later warm down after the race.

The race took place in three different categories Under 14, Under 17 and Under 19. Our school coach Mr. Baskar trained us well. As a result, in the Under 19 category Vikram G. of Class 11 won second place. Though it was challenging to run around the lake, all participants from St. Peters ran till the end of the race and successfully completed it. This reminds me of a quote that I recently read – Finishing a marathon is a state of mind that says ‘Anything is Possible’.

On completion of the race, prizes were handed over to the winners. Mr. Praveen also advised the participants on how they could relax their muscles after running a marathon and added that one needs to persistently practice running. Finally Rtn. Satha Sathish ended the event with a vote of thanks.