In junior high and high school, I thought about running cross country but never did, probably because my mom didn’t like the idea of running and still doesn’t! Instead, I played baseball, which I wasn’t that good at and consequently, never got that much playing time while I was on the varsity baseball team in high school.
The summer of 1990, after graduating high school, I started jogging/running very slowly and made some progress at it. I arrived at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the fall of 1990 and signed up for the Freshman Fun Run, in which I proceeded to do poorly(it was very hot that day) and threw up in the middle, finally finishing after about 35-40 minutes(I forget the exact time) and feeling humiliated. Nonetheless, I continued to run when I could, especially during my first 2 years of college. During my junior and senior years, I got busier with my dual physics and math major, and didn’t run as much. During this time, one of my roommates, Mike Johnson, started running Grandma’s Marathon, which I too wanted to do.
After graduating from UMD in 1994, I lived at home for the summer before attending SDSU in the fall of 1994, and I trained for my first 5K, the Ronald McDonald House Mac Attack 5K in Rochester, Minnesota. Ever since then, I have tried to do one race a year. Here is my running race history:
| Year | Race | Location | Time(if known) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | August--Mac Attack 5K | Rochester, Minnesota | Unknown |
| 1995 | April--Longest Day Marathon--5K | Brookings, South Dakota | Unknown |
| 1996 | June--William A. Irvin 5K | Duluth, Minnesota | Unknown |
| 1997 | June--Grandma’s Marathon | Duluth, Minnesota | Didn’t run due to injury* |
| 1998 | October--Home Run 5K | Madison, Wisconsin | Unknown |
| 1999 | May--Mad City Marathon--10K | Madison, Wisconsin | Unknown** |
| 2000 | May--Mad City Marathon--Half Marathon | Madison, Wisconsin | 2:24:43 |
| 2001 | None | *** | |
| 2002 | None | *** | |
| 2003 | June--Grandma's Marathon | Duluth, Minnesota | 6:04:41(chip time) |
| 2004 | June--Grandma's Marathon | Duluth, Minnesota | 6:18:11(chip time) |
| 2005 | May--Madison Marathon 5K | Madison, Wisconsin | 0:39:20(chip time) |
* : After not running in Grandma’s due to hurting my knee(nothing serious) after tripping over a log in the BWCA while on a trip, I resumed running later that summer and fall and got to overzealous, eventually injuring my right foot(a stress fracture) in November 1997. I didn’t run again until spring 1998 and then started from scratch and went back to training for a 5K.
** : After taking on a part time job at Barnes & Noble starting in July 1999 to help support myself while studying for my PhD, I didn’t run as much for the rest of 1999. I briefly quit Barnes and Noble in March 2000, then trained, albeit not as much as I should have, for my first half marathon!
*** : In October 2000, I went back to Barnes & Noble, and continued working there part time until April 2002. During that time, I didn’t run as much and didn’t compete in any races! So, no entries for 2001 and 2002(Well, I tried to enter Grandma’s Marathon in 2001, but to no avail—my entry was late and they were full. In 2002, I just didn’t have a lot of money and decided not to run). In late 2002, I decided that I would try again to run Grandma’s Marathon for 2003. I entered and trained for a while, but not as much as I should have. Now, I'm back to trying for 1 marathon per year.