Pushing the Limits

For most juniors in high school, spare time is a hard thing to come by.
They spend long nights studying to keep their grades up in order to get into a decent college.

In their spare time, they try to fit in some down time and hang out with friends. What most students never dream of doing in their spare time is training for and running in marathons and triathlons.

For Noah Falck this is a part of who he is, and training is incorporated into his everyday life.

The junior spends most of his time on the move and rarely sits down.

“I just don’t like sitting still,” he said.

Falck’s interest in running began in the summer between his eighth and ninth grade years.

“I originally wasn’t a long distance runner, I started training with the school cross country team, and I ran and got a good time,” he explained. “My friend had a poster of a marathon runner on his wall, and I just wanted to try it out,” he said.

In addition to running, Falck is also known around the school for his parkour (negotiating obstacles by scaling walls, jumping, climbing and so forth). He can sometimes be seen climbing trees and other different structures around campus and jumping over things.

“I would see things and think to myself ‘I wonder if I can climb that,’" he said. “It is something to do if you get bored.”

Falck has competed in several events and ranked well overall in his age group.

“Getting second place in the Surf City Marathon for the under-19 age group has been my biggest accomplishment so far,” he said.

Falck has gotten second place in his last three events, and he hopes to come in first in a San Francisco marathon in July. He has competed in many parts of the Bay Area and in Southern California.

"My parents are pretty supportive. They pay for my races and my travel expenses. They also see that it helps add things to my college applications and will look good for college and keep me healthy,” he said.

While he receives a lot of support from his parents, Falck has a hard time finding is people his age to train with, as even people on the track and cross-country teams are not as dedicated to running marathons as Falck is. 

In order to train for these events, Falck has to adjust his schedule to accommodate his homework and studying, as well as track practice.

“I use cross country and track to train,” said Falck. “After track ends, I will start lifting weights, and swimming and biking again in addition to running. As the marathon gets closer, I will probably run about 120 miles a week at the peak of my training. I have to wake up early sometimes to train.”

With the changing seasons and different demands throughout the year, Falck explains that it is sometimes difficult to swim or bike to prepare for the triathlons.

While running is Falck’s favorite thing to do, he stresses the importance of putting his school work first.

“I try to put school first, and then train. Sometimes I wake up really early to run because I that is the only chance I get. After schoolwork is done, I try to hang out with my friends, and a lot of them are on the track and cross country team, so I mix running time and hanging out with friends,” he said.

Falck see’s what he is doing as a personal challenge more than anything else.

“I’m not doing it for the health benefits, while that is a plus. I want to challenge myself, push the limit and see how far I can go,” he said. “I’m not sure if I will ever make it to the Olympics, but I want to keep doing this in college and in the future.”