In high school, East Los Angeles resident Raul Castaneda played basketball and baseball. He pushed himself to exercise and looked and felt fit. Some photos from high school show a trim physique in a basketball uniform.

But years later, he was often too tired to hit the gym after work. One day after he was diagnosed with high blood pressure, he was at his desk job and did a double-take in the mirror.

That’s when it hit him: He needed to make a change and get healthier.

“Seeing myself in the mirror at work and looking over [old] photos really made me rethink everything I was doing and eating,” Castaneda said.

That day, he made a goal for himself that changed his life: He challenged himself to complete a marathon.

When he got home that day, he told his wife, Ariadna Castaneda.

“I saw it as a great opportunity for him to start his athleticism again and something that would help maintain his blood pressure as well,” she said. Nearly one-fifth of adults age 18 and older in Los Angeles County, or an estimated 1,357,000 adults, have been diagnosed with hypertension or high blood pressure, according to the Los Angeles County of Public Health Services and having high blood pressure can lead to other serious illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. That was one of the biggest concerns of the couple.

From then on, Castaneda trained as much as possible, including on the days he worked and weekends.

“I try to use all the time I possibly can to train for my first marathon, which was going to come up soon and I wanted to be ready,” he said.

After working an 8-hour shift, he’d get home by 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., and run for about one hour or until he couldn’t anymore.

He also changed his eating habits: “I made sure my eating was spaced out throughout the day especially, when it came to heavier meals, so that way I didn’t have the need to eat right away after work and take up time that I could be using to run.”

He seemed to work tirelessly and the sacrifices impressed his family.

“The greatest obstacles he overcame was to take care of his health by cutting down on greasy food and I feel like running and bicycling had a big part of his success to be a healthier and better person that he is right now,” his brother, Mario Castaneda, said. When Raul “came back from the doctor and told me and the rest of the family about it, it was crazy because I always knew my brother to be a very athletic guy.”

He figured his brother just needed to do “some extra work,” not knowing until later he’d go further by doing a marathon.

“That’s when Raul began to slowly change,” he added. “I was all for it”

After training for months to complete a full marathon, the big day came.

Adriana Castaneda was there to cheer him on: “I knew how much he had worked to get to this point. I knew he could get it done.”

Still, Raul Castaneda said he was nervous as he looked around.

“There were many people at this marathon and I was now one of the many,” he said. 

For the first stretch of the race, he felt great.

“It was going smooth. I had a good pace. I felt good. My legs felt good,” he said.

But in the middle of the race, he could feel his legs wanting to give out.

It got worse as the race wore on.

“I need strong will power to take control of this,” he recalled thinking. “If I don’t, I will slow down and possibly stop, and I can’t do that.”

Staying focused on his goal helped distract him from thinking about his leg pain.

After about a few hours and 26 miles, he finally made it to the finish line. 

His wife, Ariadna Castaneda, remembers waiting for a long time, knowing he could make it but wondering when she’d see him.

Finally, he came into view and started smiling as he approached the finish line.

“You did it!” she yelled.

“I knew he would make it…I was so happy he was happy. He met his goal,” she said.

One marathon was done and many followed, including challenges he created for himself, like running from Los Angeles to San Diego.

He has even been recognized by some brands to represent their clothes, and a photo of him is displayed inside the local Nike store as one of East Los Angeles’ runners.