It was a cool Saturday morning before the sun rose over downtown Austin, but sparks of anticipation, mixed with the fuel of motivation and preparation, and energetic music kept people on the streets warm – besides the body heat from thousands of anxious marathoners.

The 20th annual Livestrong Austin Marathon and half- marathon began at 7 a.m. behind the Texas Capitol and directed runners through the city course that went as far south as Ben White and as far north as Anderson Lane.

Several members of the university’s community participated in the event. Among them was junior history major Chris Yeager. Yeager’s reasons for running the half- marathon were purely for his recently found love of running and to achieve a feat he had never conquered before.

“I was so excited, I hadn’t slept very much two nights prior to the race,” said Yeager. “I was pumped and ready to finish.”

Yeager’s love of running was kindled in October when he joined a small unofficial running club with fellow marathon-runner, resident assistant and friend Steven Grant.

Once he joined the group, Yeager knew that participating in the marathon or half-marathon was imminent.

To train, he would run from St. Edward’s University to the State Capitol and back every morning at least three times a week and would run 10 miles over the weekends.

“It prepared me well [for the race], but, looking back, I needed to do more longer races because of the half-marathon’s physical demands.”

Yeager’s excitement and nerves grew as he hiked to the event from Town Lake and began seeing other runners, well-wishers, and the event itself. However, through the ordeal he kept cycling words of wisdom he acquired from another runner through his head.

The words were from Lou Serna, an avid runner and the assistant director of Campus Ministry. His words were, “Don’t start too fast! Remember, you have 13.1 miles. Don’t burn out in the first five.”

Yeager went into the competition with other phrases like “mind over matter” and “never give up” to maintain his perseverance through the race

With these phrases, Yeager ran with two goals in mind – finish in two hours and never stop on an uphill slope.

Yeager said his favorite part of running in the event was the supporters along the sides. He recalls running past the Livestrong water station at Cesar Chavez when he saw a man read the name off his number bib to yell, “Looking strong, Christopher!” Yeager said it helped his motivation and made a world of difference.

At the end of the race Yeager finished just 12 seconds over his goal but says he does not feel shameful and does not mind rounding down the number for his first race.

“Crossing the finish line was awesome. I was just so pumped and proud to wear that medal, and I felt accomplished,” Yeager said. “Also, there is a certain pride that I just did something hard, and I didn’t have to do it. I could have quit and slept instead during those 6:30 a.m. [Capitol] runs or made excuses for not training, but I didn’t.”