Leticia Mosqueda and New York’s 26.2 Miles—Reflection on the Marathon

Leticia Mosqueda running in the New York City Marathon in 2019. Photo courtesy of Leticia Mosqueda

Thousands of people gathered to cheer on friends and family who embarked on the daring challenge of completing a 26.2 mile run through all five boroughs of New York City on Sunday, Nov. 6. 

The New York City Marathon takes place annually, bringing in around 50,000 runners. The 2022 race is the first marathon since the COVID-19 pandemic  that was similar to pre-pandemic years. In 2021, only 30,000 runners were allowed to participate, so this year's race brought back a sense of normalcy back to the people of New York City. 

The marathon route starts on Staten Island, taking the runners through Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and then down into Manhattan, ending in Central Park. 

The participants of this race face many obstacles such as hills and bridges, but this year's contestants experienced a unique challenge for the normally cool late fall race — warm weather. Clouds filled the sky and the temperature ranged from the high 60s to low 70s, an unusual climate for late fall. However, the humidity didn’t stop the thousands of racers and supporters from showing up. 

One face among all the onlookers from this year's race is one that many students of The King's College would recognize — Leticia Mosqueda.

Mosqueda has worn many hats since her start at King’s in 2012 and now holds the title of Assistant Dean of Residence Life. On top of these roles, Mosqueda is also the House Advisor for the House of Margaret Thatcher. 

Mosqueda ran in the New York City Marathon in 2013, 2017 and 2019.  She moved to New York in 2010 and spectated the marathon for the first time in 2011. 

“I was just honestly so inspired,” said Mosqueda, explaining her initial thoughts on the race as an onlooker. “I had just started running, I had run one half-marathon at that point. I ran my first half marathon in September of 2011, and just seeing the runners was incredibly inspiring and I knew that I wanted to do that someday.” 

Mosqueda's first time as a spectator motivated her to sign up as a participant the next year. However, it was canceled in 2012 due to Hurricane Sandy, but that didn’t keep her from running another that year. Leticia’s first marathon was the 2012 Richmond Marathon, but her first time participating in the New York City Marathon was Fall 2013.

Securing a pass to participate in the marathon can look very different for each runner, and for her first race, Mosqueda said she “was running for charity, through World Vision.” As for her other entries, Leticia said she got them “through a good friend of mine who works at the New York Road Runners who puts on the marathon.” 

As a first time racer in the New York City Marathon, Mosqueda said her run in 2013 “was really special, because it was my first New York City marathon... I actually had really bad cramps, so it was a really tough race for me.” 

Despite the challenges she faced in her 2013 race, Leticia went on to run again in 2017.

In 2017 Mosqueda participated in an iconic marathon for the US. 

“In 2017 when I ran, Shalane Flanagan won,” Mosqueda said. “She’s an American runner, and it was the first American winner in forty years. It was amazing.” 

On a personal level she said it was “a tough day,” but still “a great race.” 

As for her 2019 marathon, Mosqueda said it was “absolutely incredible. It was so amazing, I had so many different friends rooting for me throughout the way; my roommate, friends from church, King’s students — it was the first year I think King's students cheered for me.” 

The New York City Marathon of 2019 was the last pre-pandemic race. 

“I’m so thankful to have run it in 2019 because it was just a few months before the pandemic, so it was the last fun big event.” Mosqueda said. “It was amazing, I have the best memories from it.” 

When the New York City Marathon was brought back in 2021, things had changed. Not only was the number of participants cut nearly in half, but Mosqueda noticed that there were also far fewer international runners than usual. She noticed this irregular occurrence and the way that this year's race contrasted to the 2021 marathon.

“It’s a really international race, you could see today just from all countries; France, Argentina, Peru, Sweden, that’s just some of the ones that I saw,” she said. “It’s a very global race that many were not able to do last year because there were still a lot of COVID-19 restrictions and quarantines. But 50,000 runners were back onto the streets today and it felt really great. It was so fun to see everyone back.” 

Even though Mosqueda decided not to race in the New York City Marathon this year, that didn’t stop her from running entirely. On Saturday, Nov. 5, she participated in a 5k called Dash to the Finish Line. 

“It was really cool,” she said. “We started in front of the UN and then we ended in the same finish line that all the marathoners finished in today, so we got to kind of warm up the finish line.” 

Around 10,000 people ran the same route as Mosqueda, who laughed as she said, “It’s a pretty big race, I was not expecting that.” She also commented on the difficulty of running in the humid weather that the weekend offered, saying that “it was definitely rough.” 

In addition to racing on Saturday, Mosqueda also showed up to cheer on the marathoners on Sunday. She spoke on her spectating experience, saying, “I was watching a lot of good friends, runner friends, a couple of church friends [and] a former student actually, so it was a really great day.” 

Leticia Mosqueda at the 2022 Marathon in New York City.

While she was busy supporting her friends, she observed how the irregularly high temperatures were affecting the participants. 

“It was amazing to watch it today,” she said. “It was beautiful for spectators, wearing shorts and cheering, but I definitely saw a lot more people in pain earlier on in the race. I saw people even in the first wave of runners, which is the fastest wave, walking.” 

This year marks 10 years since Mosqueda’s first ever marathon. While she considered racing in the New York City Marathon of 2022, Mosqueda recognized the immense time and effort it took to participate in this race.

“Honestly, it’s very difficult,” Mosqueda said. “It’s a very long process. It’s four plus months of training and the bulk of the training for the New York City Marathon is late summer, August, September, which are my busiest months at work, and so it takes a lot of sacrifice and commitment.” 

But it doesn’t seem that Mosqueda has seen the last of her marathons. 

“There's a part of me that would like to run a marathon, and it might not be New York,” Mosqueda said. “It could be Chicago, or another marathon too, but I would love to run it someday when I have the time and dedication to train again.” 

With three New York City Marathons under her belt, if Mosqueda decides to take on a marathon again in the future, the students and friends she has shown up for will be ready to support her from the sidelines, cheering her on as she embarks on another 26.2 mile journey.

Joanna Insco is a sophomore from California studying Journalism, Culture and Society at The King’s College. She is an intern at The Brooklyn Paper and is involved in ESTV. She enjoys spending time in nature and drinking copious amounts of coffee.