Nueva Ecija teen competes in London

Jeremy Maraña is balancing her life now as a student and an athlete as she gears up for once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in Prudential Ride London, the world’s biggest cycling festival, on July 28 to 29.

The Nueva Ecija native has already competed in Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and China before, and her coming London trip is going to be a dream come true.

And she hopes to do well in the Survey200.

In a send-off on Thursday at the Brewery in Taguig City, Maraña shared her story about how she started as a student-athlete.

The 17-year-old said that she would wake up early in the morning to train, and after her class and school works, she will train again.

She also admitted that she had no plans of being a cyclist before since she was into track in field.

At first, her goal was to just to lose extra poundage, but the thrill she derives from racing made her decide to stick with cycling.

When asked about her future plans, Maraña intends to see action in the SEA Games which the country will be hosting next year.

“Yun talaga yung pangarap ko, dati parang gusto ko lang maging [part ng] national team pero nakamit ko na. Ngayon ang goal ko naman po syempre SEA Games naman,” she said.

But she’s not in a hurry to achieve her goals in life.

“Step by step para makuha yung pangarap ko. Syempre, pangarap ko rin po mag Olympics. Kaya step by step para sa pangarap,” she added.

Being the youngest in the group, Maraña admitted that she feels pressured, but at the same time feels excited.

“Masaya po, pero minsan napepressure ako kasi parang iniisip nila sa’yo malakas, mataas yung expectation nila kaya minsan pag natalo ka,ang sad kasi ang taas talaga ng expectation,” she said.

Aside from the honor of taking part in the event, Maraña hopes to see Queen Elizabeth II in the flesh.

Joining Maraña are Jermyn Prado of Standard Insurance, Ishmael Gorospe of Go For Gold, and Aidan Mendoza of Team Corratec.