Chapter 333 The Major Marathons 7

"Now that we've talked about basketball let's talk a little bit about marathons too, which is something Jake also stands out a lot about, you said you prepared well for marathons since before running in Chicago, how was that?"

"The first sport I enjoyed when I was a kid was athletics, I liked running more than basketball, but I still loved basketball almost the same way."

"But in the neighborhood where I lived in Miami I couldn't play basketball with my friends even if I wanted to because they didn't have courts, so I always liked to run in the city squares."

"I didn't know that it's nice to know you were interested in sports since you were a kid, and why did you decide to play basketball and not keep running?"

"As you may well know, basketball is one of the most beloved sports in our country, and I was very fond of basketball myself, and my family was in a complicated situation with just my mom working and she seemed to have health problems at the time."

"So I was a child just thought it was easier to get money for my family through basketball than through athletics and running."

"Even though it was a decision I made as a child I took my training seriously and trained on my own for almost a year before attending my first basketball tournament."

"I played against children who were several years older than me when I was 11, and yet I won that tournament and knew it could really be good at basketball."

"My mother always supported me playing basketball not knowing I was doing it thinking of making money for my family, so after many years I got a sponsorship and I could help my family before I even entered high school."

It was the first time Jake had spoken in an interview more directly about the difficulties he had as a child, he said he decided it because he was a child not to mention that he had an adult mentality and already knew basketball was the way to go right for him.

But in the rest, he said everything that really happened and because he first chose basketball over marathons first when he was younger, Jake could feel that some people who were participating in the recording were thrilled to hear about it.

"It's really an inspiring and exciting story, many in sports came from a humble background and had financial difficulties before finding the sport to change their lives."

"True, part of my basketball training has always been running, because I loved running and because I knew it helped improve athlete stamina, so I never had a hard time participating in a whole game and even now I don't have this difficulty."

"Also, I've always had good fitness and could have stronger training than other basketball players, when I already had sponsorship and still had time before college I decided to start training more seriously for marathons that to me because of my Resistance was the easiest of athletics for me."

"Of course after I started training I realized it was not easy at all and I suffered a lot because of it, but when I continued training at my school's athletic field alone and when I saw that I was running well and at a good pace I decided to run in Chicago."

"I really enjoyed the marathon there and managed to win even though I wasn't fully prepared, then I lost in New York for running the marathon wrong and then that's how you all know well."

"After that, you won all the marathons you participated in including the Olympics winning a gold medal for our country, I have to say it was great talking to you Jake, I hope you continue to be very successful in your career."

"I thank you very much for coming here and hope to be back here again one day."

Jake really enjoyed the interview and said a few things he wanted that had not been arranged before the interview, yet the commentators and the recording crew seem to have enjoyed the interview with Jake quite a lot.

After that Jake returned to the university to continue his classes and training, after a week the classes were finally over and Jake took all the exams, the classes were very easy for Jake who got the high grade again.

So the training with the basketball team was over and Jake was getting ready to go to Miami, Jake said goodbye to coach Dean Smith who wasn't coming back next semester, Jake attended a frat party with Charlie and had a great time being careful to do not drink.

So Jake had a little party with his roommates before everyone left home, so Jake got an idea and rented a big house for two nights near the university to have a party with the basketball team before everyone left home Coach Dean Smith was also invited as was Coach Guthridge.

It was the way Jake thought to throw a farewell party for Coach Dean Smith who would leave without saying anything to anyone, Jake spent good money on that party and organized very well to be fun for everyone.

The players were less comfortable because the coaches were at the party too, but Jake knew that everyone would remember this party fondly after Coach Smith did not return next season.

Jake even prepared a tribute for Coach Smith by preparing a video of the best moments of the Tar Heels team in recent years with the help of the university, in this video Coach Smith was the one who appeared most.

So naturally Coach Smith was very much applauded by the other players because he was the only one in the video, so Coach Dean Smith looked at Coach Bill Guthridge as if wondering if he had said anything.

Coach Bill Guthridge had said nothing and Coach Smith believed he could never expect Jake to come from the future and knew what would happen to him when no one else knew.

Even though it was a great time before the holidays Coach Smith said nothing that was leaving the team, even when Jake asked Coach Smith to say a few words about the team winning the NCAA tournament that year.

Jake secretly recorded the whole party and would send a copy to everyone after the party, he might have had a complicated relationship with Coach Dean Smith, but he knew Coach Smith just wanted the best for Team Tar Heels this season that was so important for him.

After that Jake returned to Miami and arranged a place for Coach Davis to stay with his family, as Jake's athletic coach Coach Davis insisted on getting as close to Jake as possible to help his training more, and Jake didn't care with that and can organize everything.

Unlike other times the first thing Jake did when he arrived in Miami was to go home and not go to the restaurant, Eva and Anna knew that Jake had arrived in Miami and closed the restaurant for a few hours to meet him.

They didn't say why they did it, but Jake could imagine, it seemed like they just like Julius were now trying to leave Jake separate from Lola, everyone could realize how Jake didn't like Lola as she liked him.

Jake was very kind and never rejected her directly, but everyone would realize that this relationship would not work, Jake never said of the decision he made that would date Lola if nothing happened until he left college because it would leave Lola unchanged nothing in her life and Jake found it unfair to her.

So Eva and Anna thought that this time Jake was at university and spending little time in Miami was a great time to make Lola forget about Jake, and to make it even better was better that Jake didn't go to the restaurant at that time.

Jake didn't care about that because he had a lot of respect for Lola and Julius and would be short on Miami anyway, if Lola could be happy because Jake would be very happy, feeling things were hard to explain, Lola was beautiful and yet Jake had no strong feelings for her.

Even though Jake spent a few hours with his mother and Anna, Eva told Jake how much she had been thrilled when she saw Jake's interview with ESPN, she knew nothing about it and was a little sad to learn that Jake realized how she was having trouble and was glad to hear that Jake had done it for her.

After all, Eva knew that because of this decision everything had worked out well for Jake and he was very rich right now that Eve didn't know how much money he had, no mother could be unhappy knowing that her son was succeeding.

Anna was also thrilled to see this interview, maybe a lot of people were thrilled like them watching this interview, but Anna even more because she knew Eva personally and remembered how Jake told her to be careful that Eva was not depressed.

So in the next few weeks, Jake spent a lot of time with his mother while also training with Coach Davis for the other athletics modalities, they had already talked about it and thought it was a great opportunity for Jake to start some different training.

For the short-haul modalities like the 100m or 200m Jake just trained the correct positioning and how to make the correct starts, the hardest things to learn on his own that he didn't know.

Even someone like Jake made a lot of mistakes in these things, but Coach Davis could imagine that Jake could have a talent for at least 200m and was quite surprised at that, at 400m so Coach Davis thought it was only a matter of time before Jake could run.