When she began running last season as a freshman, Marli Jacobus believed she was physically prepared for her new venture.

However, she quickly discovered another aspect of her approach.

“I started running my freshman year,” said Jacobus. “I thought I had worked myself into pretty good shape.

“The biggest obstacle in my running has been the mental part of it. You have to be able to ignore your thoughts and body. I believe I have been able to do that better this year.”

With her new approach, Jacobus was able to reach a goal at the East Penn Conference (EPC) meet on the DeSales University course, not exactly Jacobus’ ideal route.

“My goals for this season was to get under 25 minutes,” said Jacobus. “Recently, I set a new personal record of 22:22.

“It was my best time ever on that particular course. DeSales is definitely not my favorite course because the whole second mile is back-to-back hills.”

For the DeSales race, Jacobus had her strategy. She will run there again for the District 11 meet this week.

“For the first mile, I try to get out hard and fast,” she stressed. “I try to find my pace in the second mile. The last mile is difficult because it’s an uphill in a cornfield. But if you push through the pain, you can finish quickly.”

For this week’s race, Jacobus sought to improve her finishing abilities but she has a good feeling about her season.

“I think I’m a better starter than finisher because I often forget how to save my energy for the end,” added Jacobus. “I am pretty proud of myself this season and hope to keep improving my ability.”