At 13, this SoCal student is one of the youngest runners to participate in the Los Angeles Marathon

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Thousands of runners are gearing up for the Los Angeles Marathon Sunday, and among them is one of the youngest athletes to participate in the competition.

At just 13 years old, Nyla Evans has been training with the help of Students Run LA, a nonprofit organization that helps at-risk middle and high school students train for the marathon.

Passion, drive and inspiration

Nyla's mother Johanna Voutounou said during the pandemic, the teen didn't really do a lot of physical activity.

"She started to gain a lot of anxiety with her return back to school," she said. "[Students Run LA] has really supported her and I think a lot of students across Los Angeles."

Voutounou said this is actually Nyla's first year running in this capacity.

"It's just so wonderful that she found something that gives her an outlet, an activity, and then meet a goal. I'm so grateful for running ... So to go from having never done it before to now running a marathon, it's just incredible."

Jacqueline Arambula, a Students Run LA coach, said she's thrilled to see all the hard work the students' are putting into the training.

"Even after they've been stressed out with homework, they still come out here and they give it their all after school for up to two hours," she said. "So it's very admirable to see these students come out here and just have fun while running. Nyla is an amazing student and athlete. She outruns almost every girl in the team. Just to see her run, it really motivates the other students to run just as fast."

How does Nyla feel about the experience? For her, it's just pure fun.

"I don't think I would be as happy or energetic as I am. It's really helped me a lot and it's just really makes you happy every day."