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Featured Alumni – Marcela
Posted by Marvin in experiences
Name: Marcela Estrada
Team: Westside Marathon (Greater LA)
Number of TNT Seasons: 3 (participant, mentor, head mentor)
Last TNT Event: San Diego
Rock ‘n’ Roll 2008
Why did you join TNT?
I had just graduated from college, moved to LA, and felt a bit lost meeting people in such a big city. I desperately wanted a more fulfilling hobby than ‘professional TiVo watcher/ beach bum’, so signed up for an info session as soon as I received a flyer. The thrill of running a marathon was just what I was looking for! It challenged me physically, provided the team camaraderie I lived for, and gave me incredible motivation knowing it was for a philanthropic cause. The perfect way to start off 2007!
What was your best fundraiser?
I actually had a hard time fundraising through emails/ letters. In a last ditch effort before final funds, I wrote an email to friends/family with the joking statement “I’ll even write your name on my a$$ and run through the finish line with my booty in the breeze for a few bucks.” It ended up being a big hit and my ridiculous friends started a bidding war to get me to write funny things on different parts of my body to be worn during the race. In essence, my best fundraiser was becoming a running billboard for my friends antics.
Most memorable TNT moment?
Oh boy. I could go ON and ON. Serenading Coach Kevin at the Firehouse after a lost bet, making a participant recite an Ode to Stanford after we beat Arizona in college bball, the RIDICULOUS costume run during the last practice of Summer ‘08 (…and the pictures that ensued), mimosas and the world’s most expensive bagel at Shutters after our 20 mile run Winter ‘07, my first TNT Pasta Party (I think I cried… what a baby), EVERY race finish– even the painful ones, watching my participants cross the finish line as a mentor… then watching them become AMAZING mentors and captains the following seasons (Erin, Gretchen, Lauren, and Marvin… I love you all!), costume run in Agoura Hills (Heine’s lady bug costume?? Wow!), the entire Honolulu race weekend, SD MUD RUN with my mentor group, jumping in the ocean after long runs, Bachelor/Bachelorette auction, the first TNT Pub Crawl, the post-race celebration after my first marathon in SD (who knew some of the participants/ mentors from that night would become my DEAREST friends), watching Social Captain Dan become part of world record history by running the SD Marathon ‘08 dressed as Elvis, and the convos/ heckling that took place during our West Hollywood 6am midweek runs.
… but most memorable of all is running the Santa Barbara Half Marathon with TNT dressed as PREFONTAINE!! The mentors decided to show off our TNT spirit by dressing in costume (Halloween was the day before), which started my favorite TNT tradition of costume runs!! Not only were we quite a hit with the crowd, we actually made the front page of the Santa Barbara Newspaper!! I’d like to emphasize that our picture was larger and we were quoted more times than the winners of the race. What can I say? That’s how we do!
What would you have done differently during the season if you could start over?
Planned a fundraiser early on instead of relying on letters/ emails. It’s a lot of work to plan, but has a much bigger pay out if planned well.
Do you have any other words of wisdom for our participants?
Rarely do you have an opportunity to be a part of a team, support a cause, and reach a physical goal AT THE SAME TIME. My advice is to soak it up while you have the chance! Life gets busy, but immersing yourself in the experience is worth the sacrifice. Whether you joined the team for the cause, the physical challenge, or both, don’t forget to maximize your return on investment by having an absolute blast! The more fun you have, the less you’ll think about pain/ fatigue during the race. GOOD LUCK and save a little energy for that finish line picture 
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This will be an ongoing series, where we will feature an alumni so you, our readers, can learn some new things from people who have done it before. If you’re a Team in Training Alumni, please fill out this form (or please spread the word).
