There’s never a shortage of stress for college seniors.

The weeks are winding down until graduation and, despite the onset of “senioritis,” final projects must be completed, deadlines have to be met and exams will be taken.

Jeff Ragosta, a Cranston native and West graduate, knows firsthand as he pursues a degree in kinesiology at the University of Rhode Island. In order to alleviate some of the pressure he feels every day, and to get his mind off schoolwork, Ragosta takes to the running trails.

He plans to take part in his first-ever marathon on Oct. 8 at the Amica Newport Marathon, and he has chosen to raise money for the Brain Injury Association of Rhode Island (BIARI) in the process.

“This summer for my course curriculum for school I had to do an internship and I was always really interested in the brain and how it works because there’s so much we don’t know about it,” Ragosta said in a phone interview earlier this month about his stint at Sargent Rehabilitation Center in East Greenwich. “I’ve heard the BIA’s name fly around and I wanted to give more attention to something people might not necessarily think about at first.”

Ragosta has been running since late in his middle school days, but he’s never tackled anything as grueling as a marathon. He said he took inspiration from his father, who ran marathons when Jeff was a child, and he marveled at those who could accomplish such a feat.

“It was something I thought an elite class of people could do, but if you train to do it, you can absolutely do it,” Ragosta said. “I was just amazed as a kid [at] people who ran them.”

He had never done close to half-marathon distance until this summer. He did a 10-mile race in July and felt no soreness after the fact. That was a signal that he could push for more.

“Compared to all the other [races] I’ve done, I felt really, really good after this one,” Ragosta said. “I read about the half-marathon in Newport first but had no idea they offer a full. So it gave me some ample time to go for the big one.”

He’s up to more than 20 miles at this point, running three to four times a week in between finishing assignments and playing a bit on his guitar. Ragosta indulges in an ice bath during one of his days off.

While most runners can be seen darting down streets with their headphones on, Ragosta prefers a quieter approach. He said when he falls “into the trap of thinking about all the work” he has to do, running is a reprieve.

“I don’t run with music on, it’s just me and my thoughts,” Ragosta said. “I write a lot of stuff. I always have a planner to try to organize time each day.”

Ragosta has raised $585 thus far from about a dozen donors, but he’s not concerned about the total when all is said and done. He said he would have been content raising any money at all for BIARI. He’s just happy to have the chance to do so.

“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, I signed up for the marathon,” Ragosta said. “This could be a great opportunity to do stuff for this, too.”

Making his workout schedule work in harmony with his class schedule has been difficult, but he has several sources of motivation surrounding him.

“I’m balancing everything,” Ragosta said. “It’s been a lot harder to do the training regimen during school but I’m trying to find time. Definitely my friends and family try to push me through, getting all these practical experiences outside the classroom and seeing therapists, nurses, all of the health professions help people, I think that keeps me going. The internship over the summer opened my eyes to a lot. I felt like I was connected with a lot of people.”

He also said he doesn’t expect the finish line in Newport to be his last.

“I think after this one I’ll be really happy about getting a big one under my belt, but I think I’ll become addicted to these long ones. [I’ll be] trying to get one of those charities for a big marathon like Boston or New York.”