The Finish Line Hero

The “Finish Line Hero” Noah Falck, a first year aerospace engineer and ROTC cadet at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, works hard inside and outside the classroom. Not only has he maintained above a 3.3 GPA, but is also an active member on the ROTC Ranger Team and leads a Bible Study group in his dorm. Even with this full plate, he wakes up at 5am every morning to train for his true passion, running. As a freshman, Noah joined the cross-country team at Newark Memorial High School, which was just the beginning of a long road in his running career. He began running in local five and ten kilometer races and eventually started training beyond Newark’s city limits. At the beginning of his sophomore year, Noah started traveling around the Bay Area with his family to participate in a variety of races and charity events. By the time he reached his senior year, Noah made the prestigious All County Cross Country team and qualified for the 2012 Boston Marathon. Unfortunately, all marathon participants must be at least 18 years old, which forced him to wait a whole season before being able to run in this honorable event. For the next year Noah trained relentlessly, determined to succeed in 117th Annual Boston Marathon. Finally, on Saturday April 13th, after four years of training and anticipation, Noah Falck boarded a plane to Boston. “I had butterflies for days before leaving. I had never been so excited for a race in my life”, he explained, unaware of the events that lurked ahead. Noah arrived in Boston the morning before the race and described it as “the friendliest city with such happy people. Everyone I met had the biggest smile on their face.” Bostonians pride themselves on their food, sports teams, and most importantly, the marathon. Attracting nearly 60,000 people each year, the Boston Marathon is the oldest annual marathon and is ranked as the world’s best-known road racing event. The Dorchester Reporter compared Boston to “Christmas morning” the day of