I ran my first marathon in 1994 and made many of the normal rookie mistakes. I went out too fast, didn’t eat or drink enough, and struggled my way through the final eight miles. I have now run 182 marathons and broken three hours nine times. I ran the last 24 Boston Marathons, and I was the first American finisher at the 56-mile 2009 Comrades Marathon in South Africa and the second American finisher (out of 216 Americans) at the 2013 Comrades. Over the years I have figured out that with proper training, pacing, and smart race day decisions, Mile 26 can actually be a very pleasant experience.

When we started the Grand Rapids Marathon in 2004, I volunteered to be the pace team director, and I have organized and grown our pace teams ever since. I came up with the idea of using celebrity finish times for the pace team target times. People would always ask if they beat Oprah, so we decided to just make that the pace. I think we are the only marathon in the world with celebrity pace teams. Now my wife Marissa and I pace on teams around the world, and you’ll see international pacers join our pace teams.

What I like best is supporting and encouraging people to attempt a marathon and then running with them. I am like a running chameleon, because I am comfortable pacing at almost any pace. 

I am proud that I am responsible for the pickle juice you will find along the marathon course. I had been drinking the salty brine to ward off muscle cramps, and so I arranged for Heinz to become our official pickle juice provider. Grand Rapids was the first marathon to serve pickle juice to its runners on the course.

During the 2024 Grand Rapids Marathon, I was part of the team that successfully resuscitated a runner who had a cardiac arrest on the course. We are now partnering with the American Heart Association to obtain CPR training for much of the staff and pacers on our race and others.

I graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed a four year residency in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. I am currently on the medical staff at Trinity Health, Corewell Health, and Holland Hospital.