Summer break is right around the corner and for seniors Hadley Marshall, Casey Shaha and Claire Shaha, plans consist of running their first marathon, which is 26.2 miles.

They will participate in the Kings San Juan Island Marathon on June 17. The San Juan Islands are an archipelago off the coast of Northern Washington.

In middle school, the three were members of cross country and track but during high school, Marshall and the Shahas only played soccer. With very little long distance running experience, they are taking the necessary measures to be ready for the marathon in June.

They have created a training schedule that has them running almost every day of the week. They usually run around Dover or in town. Marshall and the Shahas have been training for the marathon since the beginning of February.

On Sundays and Wednesdays, they run eight to twelve miles and on the other days of the week they run somewhere between three to seven miles.

“I never thought I would enjoy running but it’s nice to be able to get outside and hear the birds chirping,” Casey Shaha said. “We also get a lot of time to think and talk while we’re running.”

Marshall and the Shahas are not only looking forward to the mental and physical challenge, but also the weather, the scenery and the perks that come with running a marathon.

“I’m excited to be able to say I’ve ran a marathon but I’m mostly excited for the tee shirt that we get,” Marshall said.

For some, running a marathon calls for intense competition but for these three, the reward is greater than just a winning medal. They all agree that they aren’t running to win but rather to feel a sense of accomplishment for finishing it.

“It keeps us busy, and forces us to stay in really good shape for a long time,” Casey Shaha said. “Our goal is just to finish in four to five hours.”

Training for a marathon, despite if one is training to win or not, can be very taxing mentally and physically, but Marshall and the Shahas have already noticed a change in their stamina since they started training in February.

“At first we could barely run the first three miles without stopping to walk every 400 feet, and now we can run ten miles without stopping,” Claire Shaha said.

As the date nears, the nerves increase. Although they are confident in their abilities, it will be Marshall’s and the Shahas’ first times to the San Juan Islands so are they are unfamiliar with the terrain of the course.

They are also planning to run the Bloomsday Marathon, and some other half-marathons to prepare. Everything that a marathon entails is foreign to these three, but with the months of training and mentally preparing, they expect to be ready when the time comes.

“We heard that the first 20 miles go by pretty quickly and aren’t too bad and then the last six miles are really hard,” Marshall said. “Since we’ll only run  up to 20 miles in training, we’re basically winging the last six.”