There’s an emphasis on time in distance running. It helps runners compare themselves to others and qualify for major marathons. But time wasn’t on Sergey Sushchikh’s mind during the Los Angeles Marathon on March 16.
“The important thing is going out there, being competitive. Try to race other people and compete against other runners,” Sushchikh said. “That’s what really helped me. I had no idea what pace I was on or what time I was going to run, I was just trying to catch the people in front of me.”
Staying within that mindset helped him place eighth overall in the LA Marathon. The Saugus High School boys cross-country coach and former UCLA runner finished the race in two hours, 21 minutes and 51 seconds with a pace of 5:25 per mile.
Sushchikh ran for the UCLA cross country and track and field teams from 2012 to 2016 and competed in the NCAA cross country championships in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
He took a break from distance running after finishing his college career, then picked it up again when he started to help coach at Saugus.
“I would run with my high school athletes and do some of their easier training with them to stay in shape,” Sushchikh said. “And it was one of my former college teammates that said hey, let’s do a marathon.”
He ran his first marathon — the LA Marathon — in 2021 and stuck with it. The training and racing grew to include more of his UCLA teammates, some of which now live out of state.
“I’ve been running for some time and one of my other friends has as well,” Sushchikh said, “but a good amount of the guys haven’t run since college and that was almost 10 years ago. Having a whole group together supporting each other, that definitely helped a lot.”
The group had extra motivation for the LA Marathon. Daniel De La Torre, a former teammate and 2024 U.S. Team Olympic Trials qualifier, died in July of 2024.
“I was devastated to learn of Daniel’s passing,” Joanna Hayes, UCLA Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Joanna Hayes, said in a press release. “He had such contagious energy, and I will forever cherish every moment that I was fortunate enough to spend with him.”
De La Torre taught at Almansor Academy, an all-special education school in South Pasadena. He used his professional running as a platform to support his mission of raising funds for sports camps and curriculum development for the Almansor students.
His fundraising efforts are continued on a GoFundMe titled “Continue Daniel’s Mission for Kids,” which is operated by his family. They have raised nearly $11,000 so far.
“There was a lot more going on last weekend than just running the race,” Sushchikh said. “But that helped because it helped put a lot of priority on that weekend and making sure it was a good one. It definitely helped thinking about that when the race got tough.”
Sushchikh is next considering running the Chicago Marathon or the New York City Marathon. Until then, he’s passing on the lessons he’s learned to the Saugus High School runners who are in the middle of track and field season.
“Experiencing the ups and downs of the training helps me empathize with what they’re going through,” he said.
“A lot of the athletes that I coach really want to be the best that they can be. They train really hard, they’ve bought in and have really big goals. It definitely helps keep it fresh for me when I’m running the training schedule. There’s a lot of parallels, philosophically.”