Running News Daily

Texas man breaks Guinness World Record for fastest marathon in football equipment

Suiting up in any costume and attempting a marathon can’t be comfortable, especially when you’re wearing an additional 20 lbs of football equipment. Brian Goldsmith, a 37-year-old fitness instructor and ticketing representative for the Arlington Renegades of the XFL, ran 3:29:30 at Sunday’s BMW Dallas Marathon in full football equipment to set the Guinness World Record.

According to Dallas Morning News, Goldsmith initially aimed for a Boston Marathon qualifying time when he signed up for the BMW Dallas Marathon. However, a colleague’s suggestion to run the race in an Arlington Renegades shirt sparked an idea—why not fully suit up in gear and go for the Guinness World Record?

Goldsmith mentioned on his Instagram page that he trained his body to get comfortable in football gear by wearing it around the office all day. While this might cause a ruckus in 99.9 per cent of offices, Goldsmith is fortunate to work for a football team. He is also reportedly the first person ever to set a world record while wearing an Arlington Renegades uniform, according to Dallas Morning News.

He beat the previous record of 3:33:42 set in 2019 by Australia’s Alistair Kealty by four minutes. This wasn’t his first attempt at a Guinness World Record. Goldsmith previously tried to run the fastest half-marathon dressed as a piece of fruit, sporting a banana costume, but he fell short of California’s Melvin Nyairo, who clocked 1:15:35 at the 2019 Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

The Arlington Renegades are one of eight teams in the XFL, a minor professional football league for development players in the U.S. The Renegades are owned by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and are the most recent champions in the XFL.

(12/15/2023) Views: 661 ⚡AMP
by Marley Dickinson

Homefield advantage leads Joseph Hale to second BMW Dallas Marathon win in three years

Home-field advantage played a crucial role in Joseph Hale’s victory in the 52nd running of the BMW Dallas Marathon on Sunday.

The 30-year-old resident of West Dallas made up half of a one-minute deficit at White Rock Lake, and three miles from the finish line made a final move to win for the second time in three years in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 53 seconds. All times are unofficial until certified.

“I’ve run that loop around White Rock so many times, so I know every single step,” said Hale, who grew up in Grapevine and attended Dallas Baptist.

“I knew it was downhill after Mile 23, and when I looked back a mile later, I couldn’t see anybody.”

Hale, the eighth consecutive American men’s winner, credits his sister Sarah for being the role model who influenced him to run.

“She ran in high school and I wanted to be like her," he said.

A week earlier, Hale ran a marathon in Sacramento, Calif., and was disappointed with his performance.

“I was hungry for more today,” he said.

Women’s marathon champion Jill Wolf manages to train every day despite owning a pet supply business with five locations, none of them closer to Dallas than 130 miles. That translates into a lot of travel time.

All of the training has helped Wolf whittle 50 minutes off her time since 2017, and led to a personal-best 2:51:47 on Sunday, almost eight minutes faster than the next runner.

Originally from Cleveland, Wolf has called Dallas home the last seven years and got married two months ago.

“I thought I might have a chance today," Wolf said. “The weather was the best we’ve had for running. I trained hard for it."

There was some confusion after the race because a time faster than Wolf’s had been electronically recorded, but after further investigation and some anxious moments Wolf was declared the winner.

(12/10/2023) Views: 726 ⚡AMP

Joseph Hale and Yanet Castro Aguilar won the men’s and women’s marathons, respectively

Most of Sunday’s runners at the BMW Dallas Marathon had been waiting two years to feel the euphoria of crossing the finish line in front of city hall.

Joseph Hale had three years of waiting under his belt after finishing fourth in 2018 and not running the race in 2019.

So when the Dallas resident crossed the finish line to win the 50th Dallas Marathon with a time of 2:28:42, he pumped his fist and let out a celebratory yell.

“It’s literally more than a life goal,” Hale said. “I don’t get emotional very often, but I’m going to get emotional about this.”

Joseph Hale crossing the finish line with a time of 2:28:42 to become the winner of the 50th Dallas Marathon.“I’ve literally dreamed of running that corridor for the last three years,” he said.

He just edged runner-up Joseph Darda of Fort Worth, who was about 20 to 30 seconds behind for the last 12 miles of the race. Darda crossed the finish line with a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes, 14 seconds.

Hale said having someone right behind pushed him to go harder but also forced him to be strategic.

This was the second straight weekend Hale finished a marathon.

He ran the California International Marathon the previous Sunday in Sacramento, Calif., finishing with a time of 2:26:44. He said he felt the mileage in his legs by the 10th or 11th mile.

“I wasn’t going for time; that’s what my race last week was about,” Hale said. “I actually don’t really know my time. I don’t really care. I won.”

More than 17,500 runners competed in Sunday’s races, and over 26,000 people competed over the entire weekend, which set a record.

The women’s winner was Solyenetzitl Selene Yanet Castro Aguilar of Zacatecas, Mexico, who finished with a time of 2:52:20.

She spent the first part of the race pacing with another competitor but, unbeknownst to her, the other runner was running the half marathon and soon split off in a different direction.

Castro Aguilar said she has been dealing with injuries over the past few years. She has spent the past three months training very hard for Sunday, and she took full advantage of the opportunity.

“I’ve been waiting three years to run this,” she said through a translator. “I was very happy and smiling all the way.”

It was the first marathon for Bradley. She ran at Baylor and was an NCAA cross country championship individual qualifier in 2017.

“This is kind of a full-circle moment because I went through some injuries that at the time I thought were career ending,” Bradley said. “To be able to run a marathon, it’s like all my dreams coming true.”

It was a banner year for first-time competitors. Both half marathon winners, Mitch Ammons and Kelsey Bruce, and women’s ultra marathon winner Megan Smyth were running at the event for the first time.

Bruce and Hale are best friends, meeting each other when they were both runners at Dallas Baptist from 2011-15.

They even ran the first few miles of Sunday’s race together before embarking on their own separate, winning journeys.

Bruce won the half marathon with a time of 1:14:35. She moved to Wichita Falls earlier this year after being hired as the head coach of Midwestern State’s cross country and track teams. Being able to come back to her hometown of 10 years and win the half marathon in front of her friends, family and coach was special.

“It’s always fun to hear your name on the course from people you love,” Bruce said.

So with her friend still on the road, Bruce stuck around after receiving her medal and award, joining the cheering brigade for Hale.

And as Hale entered the final length of his winning run, one voice stood out amid the crowd cheering him on.

“With 600 to go, she was there telling me that you got it,” Hale said. “She knows how I finish. She knows I can finish terribly. So when she said that I had it, I knew I had it.”

(12/13/2021) Views: 1,422 ⚡AMP
by Peter Warren

More than 50 years after winning the first Dallas Marathon, Annabelle Corboy is set to participate in the half marathon

The 74-year-old will be participating in the half-marathon at the 50th running of the Dallas Marathon.

Fort Worth resident Annabelle Corboy will be the first to tell you she is nothing special when she laces up her running shoes.

“Let me make sure it’s clear: I am an average runner,” Corboy told The Dallas Morning News. “My main claim to anything is that I’ve been running a long time, and I’ve been lucky to not have been injured and so forth.”

That first statement may be true, but the second is not entirely accurate. She does have another claim to fame.

Corboy was one of 82 participants in the first Dallas Marathon, then called the White Rock Marathon, on March 6, 1971. And she crossed the finish line that day with a time of 4:12:25, becoming the first woman winner of the event.

“For a very, very, very short time, I was a very, very, very minor celebrity,” Corboy said. “I got a couple of letters in the mail, fan letters telling me how proud they were of me.”

More than 50 years after winning the first Dallas Marathon, Corboy will be participating in the festivities once again this Sunday. The 74-year-old will be participating in the half-marathon at the 50th running of the Dallas Marathon.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Corboy’s husband, Mike Poteet, said. “Fifty years of running is a lot of running.”

Kenneth Cooper, the aerobics pioneer, inspired Corboy to start running when she was around 20 years old. At 21, Corboy spent a year earning a master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Illinois.

The school had a fitness program that gave Corboy a really good start in running. When she returned to the D-FW area, she started looking for a club to join to help her continue to run and found the Cross Country Club of Dallas, where she became an involved member.

Tal Morrison was a founder of the Cross Country Club of Dallas and the founding father of the Dallas Marathon. When the first marathon was being planned and prepped, he recruited runners for the event, including Corboy.

She recalls him as eager to get a woman to participate in the race and asked her to run it. Corboy said she had probably never run more than about 10 miles, let alone a marathon, before when he asked.

“He and I ran around the lake, maybe did a 16-mile run, a couple of weeks before the race, and he said, ‘You know, what’s 10 more miles anyway?’” Corboy said. “He talked me into it.”

Of the 82 race participants that first race day, two were women. Corboy was the lone female finisher of the 61 people who completed the race. By comparison, in 2019, the last time the event was held, there were about 2,300 finishers, 770 of whom were women.

Over the years, Corboy continued to run in the marathon, although she did not make it an annual occurrence. She has also run the relay and half-marathon events at the Dallas Marathon.

Corboy did not travel much for her races. She ran the first Cowtown Marathon in 1978 and ran the Houston Marathon a few times. The last marathon she ran was the 2005 Boston Marathon after she was offered a spot in it by a friend.

She never won another race after the 1971 Dallas Marathon but has finished as an age-group winner at multiple events.

Corboy wasn’t planning on running at the marathon this year until she realized it was the 50th running of the event. The symmetry of saying she ran at an event at the first marathon and at the 50th is exciting.

“In spite of the fact that I insist that I’m an average runner, I have spent a lot of hours of my life running,” Corboy said. “It is something that means a lot to me. To be able to kind of look back and say, yeah, I’ve done this for 50 years, it’s something I am proud of.”

(12/08/2021) Views: 1,465 ⚡AMP
by Peter Warren

After a two-year hiatus, Dallas Marathon is coming back, celebrating its 50 anniversary

The 50th anniversary of the Dallas Marathon was always going to be a special event.

But then the race was canceled last December for only the second time ever because of the pandemic. The makeup race in May suffered the same fate.

A pandemic-induced cancellation won’t happen a third time. And Paul Lambert, the president of runDallas, the organization that puts on the marathon, said the yearlong wait is going to make the marathon’s golden jubilee even more special.

“We’re actually putting a video together and the theme song is ‘Back to Life,’” Lambert said. “If you would ask me how it feels, it’s a combination of truly back to life; not only for, hopefully, a lot of our runners and the feeling that they get out in these massive public community running events, but also for us as a management team.”

The BMW Dallas Marathon will take place next weekend with the 50th running of the marathon scheduled for next Sunday. Ten races will take place throughout the weekend, plus a Health and Fitness Expo at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on Friday and Saturday.

The first Dallas Marathon, then called the White Rock Marathon, was held on March 6, 1971. Far from the major weekend event it is now, the race had 82 participants and the course was only around White Rock Lake.

“The changes are really something else,” said Annabelle Corboy, the first female winner of the Dallas Marathon. “The changes in 50 years are incredible. ... There’s so many things that are different between now and then.”

Registration for the original 50th anniversary date opened in April 2020, and runDallas saw strong early participation numbers compared with other races across the country. Lambert said it was because the Dallas Marathon was “probably the first major race to come out with a defined contingency message.”

That plan was if the race couldn’t be held in person in December 2020, runners could either run a virtual race or push their registration back to a backup date in May 2021. And when the backup event was cancelled, the organization offered the same option to run virtually or push registrations to December.

The uncertainty that hung over the organization weighed on its small staff. Despite the contingency messages, it was difficult to do much planning for anything more than three months in advance. And without knowing when the next big race was coming, the team had to make sure it could maintain its financial viability.

But the extra time did give runDallas the opportunity to refine and fine-tune the event, as well as further grow and strengthen relationships with its partners. It has also resulted in extraordinary growth of runners.

Marcus Grunewald, the executive director of runDallas, said the weekend is reaching record participation.

“I think there’s a real pent-up demand to have a big event like this,” Grunewald said. “In fact, our numbers are a bit unusual for the industry as a whole.”

About 15,000 runners participated in the events included in the 2019 marathon. With about a week to go before the first race on Friday, over 23,0000 people have signed up to participate across the 10 different events. RunDallas expects that number to be about 25,000 by race weekend. More than 2,500 people have also signed up to volunteer.

Participation in the ultra marathon, a 50k race added to the program in 2018, sold out weeks ago. The marathon and half marathon are also approaching sellout status, and Grunewald believes they may sell out before race day.

“I think this will be a highlight of the last two years for almost everybody involved with the entire weekend,” Lambert said.

It will be for Logan Sherman, for whom the marathon is almost always a yearly highlight.

He first participated in the Dallas Marathon as part of a relay team in high school over 20 years ago. He has since won the half marathon three times and the 2015 marathon with a time of 2:27:28.

Sherman is now a current member of the runDallas board, and isn’t running any long races this year, instead focusing on volunteering at the event. He is hopeful the 50th anniversary is going to take the event to the next level.

“This is gonna be so much fun,” Sherman said. “I guarantee you there’s gonna be a lot of smiles and emotion that people are going to have at the finish line when they get back to City Hall. I don’t plan on leaving right after the start. I plan on staying up there and just watching the smiles and the emotions that come through.”

(12/06/2021) Views: 1,279 ⚡AMP
by Peter Warren

BMW Dallas Marathon Festival Moved to December 10-12 due to pandemic

The Board of Directors and Staff of the BMW Dallas Marathon announced the postponement and new date of the running of the 50th Anniversary of the BMW Dallas Marathon Festival, from April 30 – May 2 to the weekend of December 10-12, 2021.

“Unfortunately, due to the continuance of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to host the BMW Dallas Marathon Festival this spring in a manner that our participants and guests have come to expect and enjoy from our organization” said Paul Lambert, President of runDallas, a nonprofit organization that raises money for Scottish Rite for children through hosting the BMW Dallas Marathon Festival.

Stated Mark Rybczk, Chairman of the Board of Directors “the health and safety of our runners, walkers, volunteers, partners and all guests are of the highest priority while we continue to navigate through this pandemic.”

In addition, “while we are very disappointed in postponing the event, we look forward to hosting our 50th Anniversary in December in the right environment to safely celebrate the running of the 50th Anniversary of the BMW Dallas Marathon Festival.”

Registered runners have these three options to select from during the month of March:

- Take no action and their registration will defer to December- Convert their registration to do the 50th Anniversary Virtual event in May

- Elect to run in both events by entering the BMW Pegasus 50th ChallengeNonregistered runners can register in the month of March for the BMW Pegasus Challenge or the 50th Virtual in May, or through December 10th for the 50th Anniversary in person event.

The BMW Pegasus 50th Challenge is comprised of two 50th Anniversary themed events, the May virtual event (5 individual event distances to choose from) and the 50th Anniversary of the BMW Dallas Marathon Festival in December (10 event distances to select from).

Runners and walkers who participate in both events will receive 50th themed amenities specific to each event distance, plus a bonus 50th running cap, as well as double their chance of winning the 2021 Special Edition BMW car.

All participants who registered for the Virtual event in December of 2020, the Virtual event for May of 2021, and or the in-person event for December of 2021, will be entered into the sweepstakes to win the BMW car to be drawn at the start line of the Marathon on Sunday, December 12th.

We are also announcing today a partnership with Kendra Scott to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. Starting today, participants can purchase a specialty priced 50th Anniversary gold necklace with proceeds benefiting the Scottish Rite for Children.

(03/12/2021) Views: 1,467 ⚡AMP

Like father, like son: BMW Dallas Marathon winner Aaron Sherf makes his dad, a longtime competitor, proud

The Dallas Marathon has always been part of Aaron Sherf’s life. His dad, Cary, has completed the annual Dallas footrace 38 consecutive years.

On Sunday, Aaron, 30, of Norman, Okla., made his running poppa proud by winning the 49th edition of the BMW Dallas Marathon in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 21 seconds.

“It’s always fun to come back to Dallas,” said Aaron, who grew up in South Garland until his family moved to Arizona when he was six. “It feels good to finally win it.”

Conditions started cool in the mid-50s but quickly warmed into the 70s as the sun broke through the fog by mid-morning. Many of the front and middle of the pack runners set personal bests before conditions became more challenging.

Logistically, the race seemed to go smoothly, starting with a high-energy sizzle video and pyrotechnics at the start and an emotionally charged finish line, energized by Mark “Hawkeye” Louis, of KSCS, 96.3FM fame.

“Everything worked out perfectly,” said executive race director Marcus Grunewald. “I guess I have a race director’s high. I don’t want it to end, but at the same time, I’m looking forward to next year.”

Sherf, who placed third overall in 2016, found himself in fifth place at the halfway point. He said he intentionally ran a slower, more conservative pace to account for the unseasonably warm conditions. At Mile 16, he caught a glimpse of the leader.

That gave him the boost he needed to kick his pace up a notch. He secured the lead by Mile 18. Though he began to struggle at Mile 24, he credits relay runners including the boys high school relay anchor, Will Muirhead of Lovejoy for helping stay strong.

As he turned toward the finish line in front of Dallas City Hall, he saw the pedestrian bridge with a banner, notifying runners they were 100-meters from the finish line.

“Oh my gosh!” Sherf said. “It was so amazing. It almost turned into a track meet.”

(12/15/2019) Views: 1,820 ⚡AMP
by Debbie Fetterman

Sergio Mena is one of the favorites in the men's half marathon in Dallas and he will cap a rigorous and rewarding fall by running his debut half marathon

Commerce’s Sergio Mena will cap a rigorous and rewarding fall by running his debut half marathon Sunday.

Mena, 25, took his final two exams, Tuesday and Thursday, to complete his master’s degree in business administration at Texas A&M-Commerce. His parents came from Spain on Wednesday to watch him walk the stage at Friday’s graduation ceremony. He hadn’t seen them in 18 months.

“I have no idea how I’m going to do everything,” Mena said by phone last weekend. “I’m going to try to stay calm. It’s exciting.”

On Sunday, he will be among the favorites to win the runDallas BMW Dallas Marathon half. It won’t be easy. Missouri City’s Richard Powell hopes to defend his title. Powell clocked a 1 hour, 8 minutes, 9 seconds last year.

Former Rice standout Gabe Cuadra placed second overall at the October 2019 Koala Health & Wellness Houston Half in 1:08:16. Dallas’ Cody Campbell and Drew Wiles also hope to be in the mix. Campbell’s half marathon personal best is a 1:10. He’s using Dallas as a tuneup for his goal race, the Jan. 19 Chevron Houston Marathon. Wiles, a former Woodrow Wilson standout, won the Dallas Running Club Half Marathon last month in 1:09:19.

Mena grew up in Cuenca, Spain, about an hour from Madrid. He didn’t run competitively until age 16. He quickly progressed under coach Alberto Fernandez Gil’s tutelage, racing internationally and earning a scholarship to Eastern Kentucky University.

He completed his undergraduate degree in three years so he used his final year of eligibility to run at A&M-Commerce while working and studying for his MBA. He wasn’t sure he’d continue running after he used up his NCAA eligibility.

His former coach, Luke Scribner, persuaded him to join the Nomad Running Society, a local running group designed to be inclusive and bring liked-minded runners together. It helped renew his passion for the sport. He also realized that running provided structure to his days and balanced the stress of work and school.

“I need it,” Mena said of running. “I was doing it just for fun. I wasn’t caring how long or how many miles.”

In late summer, Mena decided to make the Dallas half his goal race. His training has gone well. He finished the eight-mile Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot in 41:47, just 25 seconds behind three-time champion Tyler McCandless, of Boulder, Colo., an Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon.

(12/14/2019) Views: 1,733 ⚡AMP
by Debbie Fetterman

The BMW Dallas Marathon is the oldest marathon in texas starting 49 years ago

Nearly 18,000 runners will take part in the BMW Dallas Marathon this weekend. 

That is quite the turnout for an event that started 49 years ago with just a few hundred participants.

“It started as a grass roots effort with a bunch of running friends who decided they wanted to have a marathon,” said Mark “Hawkeye” Louis, the marathon’s vice president.

Now, it is the oldest marathon in Texas.  And while it has changed routes over the decades, the race still pays homage to its roots back when it was known as the White Rock Marathon.

Video from the Jones Film Library at SMU shows some of those early races, including the very first in 1971 when the route never left the lakeside.

“They’d just circle White Rock Lake two and a half times,” Louis said. “But today, people insist the route includes the lake. That’s the legacy of the marathon and the epicenter for running in Dallas.”

The tribute also poses some potential peril for runners. 

Running to the lake from the starting point, and high point, at Dallas City Hall means the return trip includes some uphill climbing.

But that's part of the fun of it all too, right?

The marathon will run -- pun intended-- Friday through Sunday.

(12/12/2019) Views: 1,799 ⚡AMP
by Chris Sadeghi

Dallas Marathon, Texas’ longest running and largest marathon continues title partnership with BMW global brand through 2023

The Dallas Marathon today announced a multiyear title sponsorship extension with BMW of North America and the Dallas-Fort Worth Area BMW Centers.

Texas’ longest running marathon and the largest annual sporting event in North Texas will continue to be known as the BMW Dallas Marathon through 2023.

“We are thrilled to be extending our title partnership with BMW for the next five years, which includes the Dallas Marathon’s 50th anniversary in 2020,” said Paul Lambert, President of the Dallas Marathon. 

”As one of the world’s most admired and distinguished brands, BMW has partnered with us in elevating our guest experience for the thousands of participants and spectators who travel far and wide to participate in our Marathon Weekend of Events.”

The Dallas Marathon was BMW’s first title sponsorship of a major U.S. running event when its partnership was launched in 2016. In just two years, BMW has coordinated several exclusive initiatives for BMW Dallas Marathon participants, including a chance to receive a VIP trip and entry to the BMW Berlin Marathon through its sweepstakes program.

Additionally, the Dallas-Fort Worth BMW Centers work with the Dallas Marathon in coordinating a series of free 5K social runs leading up to race weekend to help promote awareness and excitement throughout the local community. “BMW is looking forward to extending our title partnership with an iconic marathon that represents our brand very well in a major metropolitan market,” noted Craig Westbrook, VP of BMW North America. 

”Together, BMW and the Dallas Marathon will continue to fuel health and wellness and raise funds for the race's beneficiary the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.”

(12/11/2018) Views: 1,527 ⚡AMP

Making his debut Colby Mehmen, was the winner at BMW Dallas Marathon

It was over halfway through Sunday’s BMW Dallas Marathon, and not much was going right for contestant Colby Mehmen, who was making his marathon debut.

The problems started days before the race, when Mehmen, a 24-year-old, Princeton, Texas, native aiming to earn an Olympic trials qualifying standard got sick, contracted a fever and started having issues with his asthma.

Then, though Mehmen managed to jump out to a commanding lead within the first 10 miles of Sunday’s race, he started hurting around Mile 16. Gage Garcia, the only other runner nearby, took advantage, chipping away at Mehmen’s lead before narrowly pulling ahead by Mile 20.

And quickly approaching was what Mehmen considered the toughest and most important part of course: the Winsted Drive Hill. But somehow, the very immensity of that challenge spurred Mehmen to victory: Mehmen fought hamstring pain, the daunting hill and a formidable opponent to regain a solid lead by Mile 22, catapulting him to a first-place finish in the Dallas Marathon with a final time of 2:22:40.

“When we hit that hill, I just tried to... take the lead and see what happened,” Mehmen said. “Around Mile 21 or 22, I finally got loosened up again, and just brought it home...I got a little bit of a gap on him and then tried to pull away.

“That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, with my hamstrings tightening up, to really pull away at the point.”

(12/10/2018) Views: 1,696 ⚡AMP

Colby Mehmen will make his marathon debut at Sunday's BMW Dallas Marathon

Colby Mehmen hopes to earn an Olympic trials qualifying standard and capture his hometown marathon title in the process. "I think they go hand in hand," Mehmen said of needing a sub-2-hour, 19-minute finish. "I'm probably going to have to hit the standard to win it." Mehmen, 24, has spent the last five months living and working in Boulder, Colo., training at altitude to put himself in position to run well. He's been living in his camper van and working at the Boulder Running Co. He considers two-time defending champion Keith Pierce the favorite. "He has so much experience," Mehmen said. "He's the seasoned veteran. Speed doesn't always translate into the marathon. I might have it in the shorter races, but the marathon is a whole different game."   (12/08/2018) Views: 2,146 ⚡AMP

John Wayne Walding a former Green Beret, who lost a leg in battle is running his first marathon at BMW Dallas

Sunday's BMW Dallas Marathon is an opportunity for Staff Sgt. John Wayne Walding, a former Green Beret Special Forces soldier from Frisco, to achieve what he once thought was impossible. "Any time I tell myself I can't do something, I like to prove myself wrong," said Walding, a below-the-knee amputee. "No matter what, put your mind to it, and you can overcome pretty much any obstacle." Walding says he learned the meaning of "I can't" when he lost his lower right leg on April 6, 2008, in the battle of Shok Valley in Afghanistan. The Dallas marathon serves as a colossal challenge to remind him and to show his four children that there's little in life he cannot do. "John didn't think he could run 13 miles when we started this, and he definitely didn't think he could run a marathon," said his coach Mo Brossette, who has worked with Walding for two years. "Once he changed his mind-set and understood that that was the limiting factor, everything became possible." Walding has spent the past decade preparing to tackle a full marathon. He couldn't have endured this most recent 16-week build-up without years of training, mentally and physically. "It's going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done," said Walding, 37. "I'm a glutton for punishment. You don't become a Green Beret because you don't like to sweat a little bit and exert some energy." (12/05/2018) Views: 1,796 ⚡AMP

BMW Dallas Marathon defending champ Chandler Self wants to win again and run across the finish line this year

Through 24 miles, Chandler Self felt great, on pace to set a personal best and win her hometown marathon. She had more than a two-minute lead on her competition. But in the 25th mile, her quads locked up. "I remember thinking: 'This hurts so bad. The pain won't stop until I cross the finish line,'" recalled Self, a psychiatrist with the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. "I kept pushing, willing my body to keep going." With the finish line in sight, her legs buckled. They wouldn't budge. She tried to get up but collapsed again. And again. And again. A fellow runner gave her a hand up. Self's body was so depleted that she needed a lift and a forward shove to reach the tape. She fell forward across the finish line in 2 hours, 53 minutes, 57 seconds. "It was like getting the wind knocked out of my sails," Self, an avid sailor, said. "And sailing with no wind is no fun. You can't move forward." Video of the finish garnered international attention. People were captivated by one runner's compassion toward another. For Self, who will again be among the elite women next Sunday in the marathon, last year's race represents her most notable career achievement and one of her most humiliating experiences. "The main takeaway for me is that I can fall, and I can get back up again," Self, 33, said. "I'm going to get up and try to run the Dallas Marathon again and cross the finish line strong." Added Self's dad, a marathoner and competitive sailor: "That was a huge learning moment, to sit there 200 yards from the finish line and have your body just collapse on you. It's huge to realize that every once in a while, everybody needs a hand up. Even in winning, you didn't do it all yourself." (12/04/2018) Views: 1,927 ⚡AMP

Keith Pierce Defends Title in Dallas

Keith Pierce, 37, of McKinney, Tex., led from start-to-finish on a brisk, sunny morning at the 2017 BMW Dallas Marathon, breaking the tape with a winning marathon time of 2:27:16. In successfully defending his title, Pierce – also the winner of the 2016 BMW Dallas Marathon – ran more than two minutes faster than his 2016 winning time in Dallas. (12/12/2017) Views: 1,554 ⚡AMP

Gut-wrenching finish at Dallas Marathon

Chandler Self was the first woman to cross the finish line at the 2017 Dallas Marathon, clocking 2:53:55. Self staggered, and at some points fell, throughout the final 50m of the Texas road race. High school runner Ariana Luterman, who was running in the event’s relay, aided Self over the final stages of the race and ultimately across the line. (12/11/2017) Views: 1,558 ⚡AMP

Grammy Nominee J. Ingram to run in BMW Dallas Marathon

Country music artist and 2018 Grammy nominee, Jack Ingram will join local media personalities for the 2017 Last Relay Team Running, a contest that helps raise money for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, the lead beneficiary of the 2017 BMW Dallas Marathon, Half Marathon and SMU Cox School of Business Relay, Sunday, December 10. (12/06/2017) Views: 1,586 ⚡AMP

BMW Dallas Marathon course guide

For Sunday's BMW Dallas Marathon, race organizers are turning back the clock. A newly designed marathon course is reminiscent of the 1984 White Rock Marathon. Special contributor Debbie Fetterman highlights the notable changes and offers her course description, five best spectator venues and five landmarks along the route. (12/06/2017) Views: 1,913 ⚡AMP

2017 BMW Dallas Marathon Announces Elite Ambassadors

Two of the biggest names in American long-distance running, Meb Keflezighi and Shalane Flanagan, are coming to Dallas for the 2017 BMW Dallas Marathon, Half Marathon and SMU Cox School of Business Relay, December 8-10. Throughout the weekend, four-time Olympian Keflezighi and recent New York City Marathon winner Flanagan will appear at events around the city, including the start and finish line on race day Sunday, Dec. 10. (11/29/2017) Views: 1,883 ⚡AMP