In a twist of fate, what started as a simple invitation to join the track and field team during her freshman year of high school alongside her best friend turned into a lifelong passion for Ryley Fick, who never anticipated that running would take center stage in her athletic journey.
Through the streets of Long Beach, the participants set out on their journey to complete the grueling 26.2-mile course. In a thrilling display of endurance and determination, Fick emerged as one of the triumphant winners of the 2023 Long Beach Marathon with a time of 2:58:31.
“When I was able to turn at the ‘u-turns’ to see who was behind me, I realized I was in the lead by myself,” she said. “That is when I started to believe I could win this race within the first couple of miles.”
Fick’s experience and exceptional training paid off as she steadily increased her lead throughout the race. Most runners start at a young age with their athletic journey, but her story is a little different.
In high school, she got the opportunity to show her talents to the LBSU director of track and field, Andy Sythe. They came into contact when she was visiting the campus with her family around springtime and happened to stop by a track and field practice.
“Her times were below standards, but I had full trust in her and our coaches to get her to where she needed to be,” Sythe said. Bringing walk-ons on the team rarely ever happens.
Fick was able to get high standards and now holds five records for LBSU track and field, led the team to the NCAA Regional three times and went to the Big West Conference Championships in 2022 and 2023.
The track and field star relentlessly trained for this moment. “She has always been known as a hard worker; she gets you to places where you’d like to be,” Sythe said.
She isn’t known for her long-distance running skills but for her mid-distance running skills where she ran 800-meters in 2 minutes and 9 seconds, which is an LBSU school record.
Fick trained almost every day for 13 weeks, starting slowly and then increasing the number of miles she was running.
“I didn’t take off right at running 26 miles. I slowly progressed and saw where my times were,” Fick said.
Even on her birthday trip to Big Bear, she kept that dedication to training.
“She prioritizes her training over many things that a person in their young twenties isn’t willing to do,” former track and field teammate Anitha Graves said. “Best words to describe her are passionate, competitive and committed.”
After the race, Fick had leg aches and emotions going all over the place. Her winning prize was $1,000 and an electric toothbrush.
Her plans after this win are to get back into some track meets in the spring and hopefully be able to qualify for the Olympic trials.
“It felt so good just to be back on track. I see myself doing this again,” Fick said.