Hard Things Are Worth Doing: Why I’m Running the NYC Marathon for My Students

Eighth grade teacher Hannah Moskowitz runs with her mother, Eva Moskowitz, and Team Success at the 2025 NYC Marathon.

If you have a friend, colleague, or family member running the New York City Marathon this Sunday, ask them why they’re running. The chances are they will respond with a reason bigger than themselves.

My reason: 212 teenagers. My students.

I have run two marathons prior to this, but Sunday will be the first time that I’m running as a New York City public school teacher. This year feels different.

I grew up surrounded by education. My mother, Eva Moskowitz, is the founder and CEO of Success Academy, NYC’s largest charter school network. I attended Success Academy myself and saw firsthand the difference that an excellent, rigorous education can make for a child. I saw how much a high-quality, engaged teacher could affect a student. I wanted to be a part of that.

Three months in, I have experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. There is the thrill of seeing a student master something they thought was impossible or take ownership of their own education journey.

But there are also moments of doubt and defeatism, especially as a first-year teacher — when I only get through half of the lesson plan, fail to reach a student who is struggling, or don’t succeed in teaching a skill I know is fundamental to my students’ futures. It’s easy to start wondering if I am capable of getting my scholars across the finish line. Any teacher knows this feeling.

So I was debating whether I could also handle the marathon this year, when I remembered my students and the purpose that inspired me to teach in the first place.

My eighth graders are in the middle of their own marathon as they prepare to transition into high school. As their teacher, I expose them to their first Advanced Placement course — AP World History — before they go on to take an additional 18–20 AP courses in high school. I encourage them to analyze complex primary sources, write argumentative essays that compare cross-regional historical events, and push past their comfort zone to master tough new concepts. 

I also teach students whose developing passions and talents already demand an extraordinary level of grit — scholars who will go on to high school as dedicated student-athletes and artists. Others are discovering interests that will inspire them to pursue internships, summer programs, or dual-enrollment opportunities in the coming years. None of this will be easy.

What happens during these middle miles of their education marathon determines how strongly my students will enter high school for the final stretch toward graduation. It is a tough but incredibly rewarding step in their journey. There are harder runs ahead of them, but this year will give them the confidence and pride to keep going.

To build this mental fortitude, I constantly ask my eighth graders to step out of their comfort zone, embrace challenges, and reject defeatism. Avoiding hard things simply because they are hard isn’t how I teach, nor is it an attitude I would ever accept from them. If I want my scholars to build resilience, I have to model it.

So I decided to run the NYC Marathon. I want to show my students that I will never ask them to do something hard if I’m not willing to do it myself. If they are willing to challenge themselves, then so will I.

The training was brutal, and I wasn’t always able to stick to the schedule. And truthfully, I was never more exhausted at mile 22 of a long run than I was at 4:30 p.m. on a typical Thursday in October.

Luckily, my prior marathon training reminded me that the hard days pass, and just by staying determined to do the next run, you win in the end. Just like teaching, marathon training can feel impossible some days. But I learned running my first two marathons that you have to trust the process.

Now I am learning to trust the process of teaching. Taking on the challenge of the classroom makes me feel more confident taking on the marathon. And taking on the challenge of the marathon makes me feel more confident taking on teaching.

I am proud to run alongside my Success Academy teammates — a group of 59 dedicated educators and supporters who are lacing up to send the message to our scholars that hard things are worth doing, and that every single one of them has what it takes to succeed.

For me, I know what lies ahead on race day: the wall, the quiet stretches where doubt gets loud, and the painful final miles. But I also know that along the course, my students will be standing on the sidelines cheering me on. Seeing their faces in the crowd will be the exact spark I need when fatigue sets in.

And when I walk (albeit slowly) into my classroom on Monday morning, my goal is to show them what pushing through looks like in real time. My scholars still have nearly 10 miles of their K–12 marathon left to run. I want them to know that when the course gets tough — on the streets of New York or in the classroom — someone is running right beside them.

Hannah Moskowitz is an eighth grade AP World History teacher at Success Academy Bronx K–12.