Pablo Aguilera, '07, MA '08, finished March's Napa Valley Marathon in just over four hours—a bit slow for the former Stanford triathlete. But this time he had his hands full, dribbling a basketball for the entire 26.2 miles in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record.
The Woodside High School social studies teacher learned of the feat while helping a student with a trivia contest. Aguilera, 24, recalled thinking, "I can do that," when he heard the record stood at four hours, 30 minutes. He asked his friend Chris Gaines, '05, a personal trainer, to come up with a training plan.
The next call Aguilera made was to Stanford College Prep (formerly Upward Bound), which helps first-generation college-bound students navigate the financial aid and scholarship application processes.
"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," Aguilera wrote on his blog, Upward Bounce. "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 tests, then pay for the college applications, then pay for a trip to visit colleges."
In the end a knee injury at mile 14 kept Aguilera from besting the Guinness World Record time, which since had fallen to three hours, 48 minutes. But he still raised nearly $7,000 to help deserving students pursue a college education.
