Marathoner runs to make her inner child, her mother and the City of LA proud

Susana Gonzalez couldn’t help herself from feeling emotional as she finished her 16th L.A. Marathon on Sunday. She was one of the 27,000 runners that filled the streets of of the city to celebrate the 41st annual iconic sports event. 

It wasn’t her best time, nor her best race, she admits. But she still felt proud as she owed this run to her inner child, who at 11 years old ran her first marathon against all the odds.

“I had a Students Run LA (SRLA) coach [who] told me and my mom that she didn't believe in me and that she didn't think I would finish. So my mom ended up training me on nights and weekends,” Gonzalez said. 

During training she felt all types of emotions: mad, sad, tired but her mother kept motivating her because, unlike the coach, she truly believed in her. A few months later, in March 2005, Gonzalez and her mother finished the L.A. Marathon with a time of five hours and 44 minutes.

After that first marathon Gonzalez left running behind until she was in high school, where she joined the cross country and track and field teams. From that moment, she saw running differently. 

“When I turned 18, this was back in 2012, that's when I started doing the L.A. Marathon consecutively and I haven't stopped,” she said. 

What keeps her moving

Besides giving herself the gift of knowing she can do great things in life, this running challenge is something she proudly likes to overcome every year. 

“And to remind myself that if there's ever any type of negativity going around, externally, I just remind myself that internally, I'm way more capable, and I'm stronger than what I think I am,” she said.

She has chosen to run the L.A. Marathon consecutively because of her love for the city.  Gonzalez was born and raised in Koreatown. When she attended college at Cal State Long Beach she moved to Long Beach and once she graduated and started her professional career as a social worker and mental health therapist she moved to Bell Gardens where she has lived for almost a decade. 

“I love Los Angeles,”  she said. “I really owe it all to Los Angeles for making me who I am, obviously, outside of my mom and my loved ones.”

One of her greatest motivations to run is her mother, Erika Sanchez, who has run at least 30 marathons including two Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM) in Chicago and New York. The WMM is a prestigious series of six elite annual marathons: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City.

However, in 2019 Sanchez had to move to Georgia and while that was one of the hardest things for mother and daughter, Gonzalez continued reminiscing about the many marathons they ran together.

“I felt like, not only I had to do it for me, but I had to do it for her to keep going and to make sure that she knows that she's still a part of this movement in this community as well,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez has run one WMM in Chicago in 2023 and she hopes to do more destination runs to travel and do what she loves best, which is running. 

What’s next

As a therapist and runner, Gonzalez knows that aside from the physical challenges there are also mental barriers that people don’t know about but could be addressed through running. 

“Maybe, sometimes, you're going through something difficult in your life. You can go through grief, through loss, through significant life changes, and sometimes running can either make you or break you,” she said. “I think there's moments where maybe you can have a good cry during a run, and then there's moments where you can complete a long run, and it does wonders, it nourishes your soul, really. It does wonders to your mental health, and you realize how strong and capable you are.” 

She said she’s glad to see the running community growing through the years. She said back in the days it was just someone inviting another person for a run, but now is more of a social event. 

“What I like about running, too, is that anyone can do it, especially if you come from a low income background. It's not like you have to invest in fancy equipment and you have to pay a certain fee at an exclusive club to go,” she said. 

She said she’s happy to have recently joined the Bell Gardens Running Club. 

While her running speed has slowed due to knee pain for years and a recent ankle sprain, Gonzalez said what matters the most is that she finished the L.A. Marathon and she can add another medal to honor her inner child, her mother and her beloved Los Angeles.