Answer:
We can start by rewriting the initial equation x +10y=260 in order to express how y depends on x.
This is a linear function ( it's a straight line). Linear functions have two intercepts, y and x.
To find x-intercept (also called zero of a function) we set y=0 and we solve for x.
This means that at x=260 our function has a value of 0. y(x) represents a distance from the school. This means that when y(x) is 0 our athlete reached school (finished the race), so this also answers your second question. The time it takes an athlete to finish the race is 260 minutes.
The y-intercept a value of our function at x=0. This gives us a distance of our athlete from the school at the start of the race. We find this by plugin x=0 in our equation. We get that y=26 when x=0. This makes perfect sense. Our athlete is 26 miles away from high school at the start of the race.
Explanation: