How it all began…

To be honest, this whole thing started off as a joke.

I was helping the school in a trivia hunt last spring when a student needed help finding the answer for a question asking about the record for running up the Empire State Building. I told him to look at the Guinness Book of World Records. He comes back with the book and points out the picture of the record holder. Right next to the picture of that record was a picture of a guy holding a basketball and it said, “World Record holder for running a marathon while dribbling a basketball: 4 hours 30 minutes 29 seconds.” Another teacher saw it too and jokingly asked, “Can you beat that?” I replied, with, “Easily. Being a running point guard, ambidextrous when it comes to dribbling, and being a distance runner, I can break it.” We left it at that. Later that evening, the teacher came over to have dinner with my roommate and myself. At dinner, she brought up the record and we all joked around about me breaking the record. They dared me to sign up, so I got my laptop and signed up on the website in the middle of dinner. I then printed out the application forms and signed them and mailed them that night. We all thought it was still a joke because we figured they had thousands of record attempt requests, and would not get back to me.

Then, in the middle of summer, as I was traveling in Peru, I checked my email and there was a message from Guinness telling me that I was approved to attempt to break the record. I laughed and kept on with my trip. It was not until my second leg of my travels, while I was in South Africa with a friend that we got to talking about the approval. It was here that it hit me and I made the decision to actually go through with it. Through our talks, I decided that if I was going to put my body through so much pain, I might as well do it for a good cause.

When I arrived home from my vacation, I immediately called my good friend Chris Gaines, who is a personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach for Stanford Rugby, and explained my challenge. I wanted a few tips to help me in my training. When he heard I wanted to do it to raise money for a good cause, he was all in. We worked together and developed a precise and intense workout plan for this record attempt, looking at different components of training. After realizing I could do it, I contacted Christine Solari (director of Stanford College Prep) with an idea to raise money. After making sure I was not joking, we set up a meeting and talked about it further. Little by little, the training and campaign started developing. We picked up more team members for the campaign to help out, and now, we have officially developed “Upward Bounce.”

After we had already established Upward Bounce, I received word that the record was lowered to 3 hours 48 minutes 23 seconds. While making this more of a challenge, I still believe I can break it and we have continued to train hard to prepare even more for this attempt.

Student Costs

The reason I wanted to raise funds for Stanford College Prep is because we want to help students be able to afford the college application process. We tend to be so focused on finances once a student gets to college, that we forget how expensive it is to get to college. I have had too many conversations with students that began with them explaining that they are not applying to college because they cannot afford it. Because of the budget crisis at various university systems, fee and application waivers are disappearing or becoming more scarce. Students are being turned away for financial reasons before they even step foot in their first college class.

Let's imagine this is a typical high school senior who decides in the spring to enroll in a CSU:

4 CSU applications x $55 each = $220
4 UC applications x $60 each = $240
1 Stanford application x $90 = $90
1 Santa Clara University app x $55 = $55
Total cost of apps without fee waivers: $605

1 SAT test = $45
1 ACT test w/writing = $47
SAT II (3 subjects, reg fee @ $20, plus 2 subjects @ $9 ea. plus one language w/listening @ $20) = $58
Total cost of tests w/out fee waivers = $150

1 SAT prep book = $20
1 ACT prep book = $20
1 portable CD player (required for SAT II language w/listening) = $25
Total cost of test supplies = $65

Application fee for freshman year housing @ CSU = $55
Housing deposit @ CSU (which is due with the housing application, long before financial aid is available) = $1400*
Total cost to secure freshman year housing @ CSU = $1,455
*A representative in housing at SFSU said that this initial payment might go up this spring due to the state budget crisis

Total cost of senior year process for this student: $2,275

Students should not be turned away from pursuing their dreams of going to college because they cannot afford the application process. This is why Upward Bounce was created: to help students get to college because we know that once they are there, they will succeed.

Update on Record

Just got a message from Guiness World Records, that reads:

The current record for "Fastest marathon dribbling a basketball" is: The fastest marathon dribbling a basketball is 3 hr 48 min 23 sec and was achieved by Jerry Knox (United States) at the LA marathon.

The attempt was just confirmed and approved and the record was lowered by 42 minutes. We will continue to work and train and attempt to break this new mark.

Rationale for world record attempt

After making the decision to attempt to break the current Guinness World Record for running a marathon while dribbling a basketball (currently 4 hours, 30 minutes, 29 seconds), I decided to combine all of my passions—basketball, running, social justice, and education— and partner with Stanford College Prep (formerly Upward Bound) to raise funds to support students in the Bay Area.

Stanford College Prep (SCP) prepares and motivates 60 students enrolled at East Palo Alto Academy high school to pursue a college education. These students will be the first generation in their families to attend college, and SCP offers them year-round, comprehensive social and academic support throughout high school to help them understand how to set themselves up to be both eligible and competitive for college after high school graduation. Additionally, these students’ families earn low incomes, and SCP also helps them navigate the financial aid and scholarship application processes, allowing funding their educations to become a reality.

As a teacher in this area, I have students from all different backgrounds. Families in my classroom include some of the wealthiest in the Bay Area, and also some of the poorest in the Bay Area. My classroom is a microcosm of the larger society. In discussions with students, I have been devastated to find out that very qualified students are not going to college because they cannot afford to pay for the SAT, SAT II, ACT tests, then pay for the college applications, then pay for a trip to visit colleges. Furthermore, if students are able to get through these expenses, many cannot afford the housing deposits for college, rising tuition costs, and also books. The cost of applying for college and housing during the senior year of high school can be well over $2,000. In these economic times, funding and scholarships for students are also becoming more scarce, only encouraging the growing achievement gap. It is my belief that everyone needs to have the opportunity for higher education and their financial situation should not determine this.

I decided to partner with Stanford College Prep and the Haas Center at Stanford because of the close ties I developed as an undergraduate at Stanford. I worked and volunteered with them and have seen the success that these programs have with students and inspiring them to pursue higher education and to help the community. Together, we hope we can help students achieve the opportunity for higher education and not be deterred from their dreams because of financial difficulties.

Biography

Pablo’s Biography:

I was born and raised in Redwood City, CA. My mother is an elementary school teacher and my father is a juvenile probation officer who works closely with the high schools in the area. Family dinner conversations were always about social justice and public service. This influence has shaped my whole life and aspirations.

After attending Hoover Elementary and going through the bilingual education program, I attended Kennedy Middle School, and went on to Woodside High School. I achieved a lifelong dream by attending Stanford University, earning a B.A. in History with a minor in Spanish. While at Stanford, I worked closely with many public service organizations on campus, including Camp Kesem, and the East Palo Alto Stanford Academy as an Education and Youth Development Fellow for the Haas Center. Immediately after graduation, I pursued my other aspiration of becoming an educator by attending the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) and receiving my Masters in Education and California teaching credential.

I kept my promise to return to my community to serve, so upon graduating from STEP, I began teaching Social Studies at my alma mater, Woodside High School. I currently teach 9^th grade World Studies and 11^th grade US History.

Throughout my life, I have been involved in athletics. I have played basketball my whole life, but in high school I participated in track and field and cross country. I enjoy pushing myself, so at Stanford I decided to challenge myself and joined the Stanford Triathlon team. I participated in triathlons for a year and a half until an accident left me injured and having to stop for a couple of months. As I was getting back into shape after the accident, I was given an opportunity to become a Pace Leader for the Nike Women’s Marathon Club Runs in Palo Alto. It was then that I trained and completed my first marathon. Since then, I have continued to challenge myself to new adventures.