Sixteen minutes and 42 seconds, the length of time of takes to get from the Key Biscayne Bridge to ILS during rush hour traffic, was what it took for senior Emmanuel Roca to break the school record for the 5K.

On September 7th, at a Hebrew Academy Invitational Cross Country event, ILS’s standing 13-year record of a 16 minute 52 second 5k ended.

Roca’s running journey began only a year and a half ago, with a rigorous training schedule.

“I wake up at 4 am to train until 6 am, and then after school I train from 3 pm to 4:30 pm, including Saturdays. Typically, 10 miles a day,” he shared.

Roca has faith in himself and aims to surpass his record.

“I feel I can improve because of the harder training this year. I try to break my own records every time I have the opportunity,” he added.

His hard working attitude and motivation for the sport stems from the impact running has made on his life.

“Running has kept me in a good and healthy atmosphere. It’s bettered my physique and outlook on life,” he explained.

Despite all the intense labor and commitment it requires to not only pursue this sport, besides being good at it, Emmanuel finds peace amidst the running.

“As painful as running is, it can also be very therapeutic,” he said.

Roca is very thankful for his trainer who has guided him along this path and helped him be where he is today.

“I am grateful to have started running partly because of my coach, Andrew Shaheen. Thanks to his help in discovering which distances suit me better and his demanding training, I have improved,” he said.

Coach Andrew Shaheen reciprocates his gratitude for such a dedicated athlete and believes Emmanuel has even more to go in the sport, possibly even taking him to college.

“I believe Roca has the ability to get recruited and I have no doubt he can beat his current 5k record,” Coach Shaheen said proudly.

For aspiring Cross Country runners, Emmanuel advises this: