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Talk Line: Local marathon runner Sandy Lightner shares her journey · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Hey, they're waking crew. It's eight thirty five on your Thursday,
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  Speaker 1: February twelfth morning, and you know what that means. It's
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  Speaker 1: time for talk line. And joining me this morning is
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  Speaker 1: someone with one of the most impressive running resumes you're
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  Speaker 1: ever going to hear of. Sandy Lightner is a local
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  Speaker 1: marathon runner who has completed marathons in all fifty US
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  Speaker 1: states and on every continent. Okay, if you thought the
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  Speaker 1: states were enough a rare comp going, well, in.
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  Speaker 2: Just correction, I will complete the seventh continent on March
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  Speaker 2: first in Tokyo.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. All right, Well, with your kind of resume, that's
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  Speaker 1: a done deal already. And I did get that confused
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  Speaker 1: when I had talked to you when we had set
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  Speaker 1: this up, But I mean, that's absolutely amazing. And we
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  Speaker 1: were talking a little before this, and it's hard to
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  Speaker 1: think with that kind of an accomplishment that this wasn't
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  Speaker 1: always something with the goal in mind. And I know
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  Speaker 1: we were talking, but I want folks at home to
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  Speaker 1: know how how long have you been running and what
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  Speaker 1: first sets you on this path.
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  Speaker 2: I started running, and I believe it was in ninety eight.
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  Speaker 2: I was going out to sock at the time. I
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  Speaker 2: was a smoker. Back then, i'd quit smoking and gain weight,
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  Speaker 2: and so I was using the fitness center there to
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  Speaker 2: work on a routine to lose weight, and someone approached
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  Speaker 2: me and asked me if I wanted to do a
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  Speaker 2: five k, and honestly, I didn't even know what that
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  Speaker 2: distance was back at that time, so I thought the
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  Speaker 2: challenge would be helpful for me, and so I did one,
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  Speaker 2: and when I finished, then my next challenge was I
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  Speaker 2: wanted to be able to do it faster, and it
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  Speaker 2: just kind of snowballed from there. But I didn't really
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  Speaker 2: think about doing a marathon until on down the line
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  Speaker 2: did my first one in Chicago two thousand and three.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, And I mean, gosh, you know, for anybody like
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  Speaker 1: me and play of others who don't run, certainly not
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  Speaker 1: for fun, usually for the dinner bell, it almost seems impossible.
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  Speaker 1: At what point did this goal feel like it could
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  Speaker 1: be real? And at what point did you know this
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  Speaker 1: become a goal? Did you just realize like you had
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  Speaker 1: crossed off like half the states on your bingo card?
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  Speaker 1: And while I not finish it, how did that turn
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  Speaker 1: into a goal? And at what point did you decide
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  Speaker 1: this is what I'm going to do.
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  Speaker 2: Well. As far as the marathon, you know, it was
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  Speaker 2: just kind of a build up. Started with the five k's,
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  Speaker 2: then did some ten k's mixed in a half, and
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  Speaker 2: that probably is where I started considering the full. But
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  Speaker 2: then when I started, so I didn't do another marathon
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  Speaker 2: in Chicago until two thousand and six. So three years
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  Speaker 2: went by, and then for some reason, at some point
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  Speaker 2: I was looking at my finish time and thought, oh,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not that far off from Boston qualifying time. So
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  Speaker 2: two thousand and nine I did it again. Another three
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  Speaker 2: years later and I didn't reach my goal, and so
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  Speaker 2: I was determined at that point I wanted to qualify.
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  Speaker 2: So I did one in Paign or ban of the
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  Speaker 2: Illinois Marathon it was called, and it was real hot
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  Speaker 2: and Muggy didn't make my time. So then I looked
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  Speaker 2: for another one to do. So this would have been
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  Speaker 2: into twenty ten, and so then in the fall in September,
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  Speaker 2: the Dayton, Ohio at the Air Force Base, their rights
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  Speaker 2: Phil Patterson Air Force Base, they have a marathon and
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  Speaker 2: so there I qualified. So then when I so that
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  Speaker 2: was twenty ten, signed up and then twenty eleven I
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  Speaker 2: ran Boston and my goal was to again get a
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  Speaker 2: Boston qualifying time, but I only qualified by a minute.
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  Speaker 2: And when you sign up, they go in order of
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  Speaker 2: who's the fastest, and they only allow so many in
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  Speaker 2: each age group, and so I missed that cutoff. Well
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  Speaker 2: I knew I would, So then that prompted me to
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  Speaker 2: look for other marathons to try to get a faster time.
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  Speaker 2: So when registration came up in September, because Boston is
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  Speaker 2: in April, so I went to Marquette, Michigan. Didn't get
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  Speaker 2: a qualifying time. I went to South Bend, Indiana, very
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  Speaker 2: hot and muggy. They had to stop the race at
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  Speaker 2: some point. I had finished, but certainly not with a
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  Speaker 2: qualifying time. And then I even did quad Cities, but
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  Speaker 2: then I later discovered I had an injury that was
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  Speaker 2: slowing me down, so during that, you know, So then
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  Speaker 2: I had done some more states and I just really
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  Speaker 2: enjoyed the beauty and the scenery and thought, wow, this
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  Speaker 2: is really amazing places that I would have never thought
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  Speaker 2: to go visit and found out how beautiful the country
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  Speaker 2: is out there. So that's what prompted me to continue
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  Speaker 2: looking for marathons and other States, and then I learned
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  Speaker 2: about the Fifty States Marathon Club and you had to
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  Speaker 2: have ten of them before you could sign up. So
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  Speaker 2: that's what stirred that.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so about what point did you did you finish
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  Speaker 1: the fifty States challenge? And after that was this Continental
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  Speaker 1: challenge just like you looking to the next mountain to
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  Speaker 1: climb or did someone pass that info along? Right?
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  Speaker 2: So when I got towards the last, you know, few
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  Speaker 2: years of completing the fifty States, which I completed the
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  Speaker 2: last one in Hawaii Maui in January of twenty twenty two,
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  Speaker 2: and I had already decided I wanted to go for
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  Speaker 2: the Marathon Majors, which at that time was there was
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  Speaker 2: six Chicago, New York, Boston, Berlin, London, and Tokyo. And
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  Speaker 2: so I figured I've already got the three in the States.
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  Speaker 2: So then when I did Berlin, that was the first
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  Speaker 2: one I did of the Marathon Majors. Over there, they
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  Speaker 2: had a guest speaker and he was the first person
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  Speaker 2: black man that had completed what they called a magic
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  Speaker 2: marathon hat trick I believe it was called. It's an
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  Speaker 2: award where you complete all fifty states, all seven continents
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  Speaker 2: and total of one hundred marathons. Well, that had me,
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  Speaker 2: you know, excited and thinking about doing the continents. At first,
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  Speaker 2: I wasn't going to consider it because I'm not one
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  Speaker 2: for the cold weather. Antarctica didn't sound too appealing, But
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  Speaker 2: as it turns out, that was an amazing trip, just
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  Speaker 2: absolutely amazing. Wow.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what challenge is there after this getting an
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  Speaker 1: invitation to the space station to run on a treadmill?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, where do you go from here?
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  Speaker 2: Just continuing to you know, go to places that you know, well,
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  Speaker 2: I'd like to experience and see. So they added Sydney
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  Speaker 2: actually is a marathon major, so now there's seven. But
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  Speaker 2: they're also planning on adding Cape Town, South Africa and Shanghai, China,
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  Speaker 2: And so those are another two that are added to
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  Speaker 2: my goal that I want to do because then you
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  Speaker 2: get the nine star medal. Right now, it's just the
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  Speaker 2: sixth star, even though they've added a seventh with Sydney,
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  Speaker 2: but they have to go through a process to qualify
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  Speaker 2: before they are added as a major.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, was there ever a race where you thought I
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  Speaker 1: might not finish this one, whether it was early on
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  Speaker 1: or is that just never been a thought?
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  Speaker 2: No, I'm too determined. I always think to myself, I'll
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  Speaker 2: crawl if I have to. I'm not willing to give up.
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  Speaker 1: I have to imagine it takes the kind of mentality
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  Speaker 1: to do what you do, which leads me to ask,
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  Speaker 1: what does your training look like like, you know now,
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  Speaker 1: especially compared to maybe when you first started running.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you learn a lot along the way. You
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  Speaker 2: know what to wear, what not to whar you know,
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  Speaker 2: finding better training schedules that work better, learning the importance
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  Speaker 2: of strength training, and so you get what you put
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  Speaker 2: into it too. And you know, life happens, and my
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  Speaker 2: training has not always been the best. So and then
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  Speaker 2: that shows in the results from you know, my finish times.
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  Speaker 2: So uh, you know, and if if you get injuries,
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  Speaker 2: of course, you know that slows you down to you're
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  Speaker 2: missing time from your training, you know.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, is there anything that keeps you motivated of
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  Speaker 1: the days you don't feel like it? Or do you
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  Speaker 1: or do you just have days or do you not
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  Speaker 1: have those days? Oh?
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  Speaker 2: I definitely have those days, especially in the winter. You know,
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  Speaker 2: I get the blues and it's hard to get out
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  Speaker 2: the door. Thanks to my running group that I started with,
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  Speaker 2: I approached Razinski. I got to give her credit that
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  Speaker 2: started this with the running group, because I knew she
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  Speaker 2: ran in a group and I was not running out
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  Speaker 2: doors at all. I was strictly on the treadmill, and
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  Speaker 2: I knew I was going to need to train outdoors
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  Speaker 2: with doing Antarctica. But ironically, as it turns out, it
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  Speaker 2: was actually warmer there than it was during a lot
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  Speaker 2: of our training here.
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  Speaker 1: Really.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, but it's still paid off. Yeah yeah. Wow.
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  Speaker 1: So many marathons any that stick out in your head
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  Speaker 1: as maybe some of the most memorable, or you know,
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  Speaker 1: maybe just something kind of cool, kind of happened that
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  Speaker 1: just always stays with you. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: You know, people will ask me what's your favorite marathon,
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  Speaker 2: And there's different marathons that I love for different reasons.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 2: One that stands out is I did Surfside Beach in Texas,
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  Speaker 2: where my middle daughter lives, and the two youngest at
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  Speaker 2: the time or the two oldest, I'm sorry at the time,
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  Speaker 2: they actually kind of joined in as I was approaching
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  Speaker 2: the finish and I have the coolest picture of them
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  Speaker 2: running alongside me as I crossed the finish line. So
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  Speaker 2: that was a pretty special, you know, finish to the
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  Speaker 2: race and you're along the ocean. But again for other reasons.
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  Speaker 2: Other ones are special. My youngest daughter, she you know,
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  Speaker 2: kind of ran alongside me right before I approached going
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  Speaker 2: into the stadium to the finish line for the Illinois
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  Speaker 2: Marathon one. You know, so I had family that joined
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  Speaker 2: me in Hawaii that were there for the finish so
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  Speaker 2: you know, those are special. But just amazing sights, you know,
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  Speaker 2: with the mountains in Colorado Springs, to running across the
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  Speaker 2: San Franciscisco Bridge, running through Brandon Brigate, you know in Berlin.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, just so many amazing sites and experiences.
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  Speaker 1: You practically have your own Forest Gum Montage as your
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  Speaker 1: actual life. I mean we've seen it on the screen,
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  Speaker 1: but it sounds you've put in the miles to live
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  Speaker 1: these kind of moments. This is so cool. She leads me.
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  Speaker 1: Ask any strange or funny stories from the road during
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  Speaker 1: any of these, uh, these marathons.
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  Speaker 2: Probably not something I want to repeat on the radio.
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  Speaker 2: My girlfriends know, they they know what I'm talking about.
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  Speaker 2: Just things that you know runners go through or can
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  Speaker 2: go through, you know on race day.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, sure, speaking you know of race day, how
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  Speaker 1: do you how do you prepare for, you know, for
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  Speaker 1: race day. Like, I mean, I know what you're you know,
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  Speaker 1: you're training and preparing, But what kind of gets you
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  Speaker 1: in the mindset when you're about to go? I mean, again,
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  Speaker 1: for most of us, the thought of running down the
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  Speaker 1: block is terrible and you're putting in so many miles, Like,
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  Speaker 1: how do you get yourself into that mindset?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you're pretty excited and pumped. You know that the
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  Speaker 2: day's finally going to arrive. So a lot of us
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  Speaker 2: we don't sleep very well because you're you know, I'm
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  Speaker 2: afraid of over sleeping, even though I've got the alarm set,
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  Speaker 2: you know, so, and I make sure I've got everything
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  Speaker 2: laid out, what I'm going to wear, you know, any
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  Speaker 2: supplements I'm going to take already, have planned what I'm
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  Speaker 2: going to eat. You know, that's all set so that
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  Speaker 2: when you get up, you don't have to really think
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  Speaker 2: about anything or look for anything. It's right there to
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  Speaker 2: be ready.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Well, you've heard it first from Sandy. You can
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  Speaker 1: be excited about running that many miles, and I'll believe you.
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  Speaker 1: For anybody who's you know, never run a marathon, but
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  Speaker 1: they're they're considering it. What advice would you give them?
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  Speaker 2: I would just say that I have so many people
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  Speaker 2: that tell me, oh no, I couldn't do that. I
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  Speaker 2: can't even run two blocks. And I would say that
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  Speaker 2: you're capable of so much more than what you think
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  Speaker 2: you are. I've discovered that along the way. I never
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  Speaker 2: would have imagined doing a marathon when I started with
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  Speaker 2: that five k. So you just it's just one step
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  Speaker 2: at a time. You just start slow and you build
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  Speaker 2: on that and your body adjusts as you train it.
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  Speaker 1: And you mentioned Tokyo as your your last check mark, right, yes.
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  Speaker 2: For my marathon majors and continence?
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  Speaker 1: How long is that raise?
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  Speaker 2: Twenty six point two.
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  Speaker 1: Twenty six point two mile? Yes, they all are wow
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  Speaker 1: about what's your what's your best time on a marathon?
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  Speaker 2: Do you know my best time was when I qualified
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  Speaker 2: for Boston three hours fifty two minutes, thirty five seconds.
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  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. So that's another goal I have is
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  Speaker 2: to qualify again. But I don't think it's going to
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  Speaker 2: happen this one. This winner hasn't been good to me
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  Speaker 2: for training.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, it's it's been an odd one, that's for sure. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: so well, so cool. We're about out of time here
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  Speaker 1: this morning, but I want to thank you so much
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  Speaker 1: for joining us in the booth. Is there any way
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  Speaker 1: people can kind of do you share your progress online?
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  Speaker 1: Or is this?
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  Speaker 2: When I do a marathon, I do post pictures afterwards
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  Speaker 2: of my you know, race and the sites I see
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  Speaker 2: because I always have the opportunity to do some sight
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  Speaker 2: seeing in the area when I go.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I think we I wish you the best of luck,
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  Speaker 1: but as determined and disciplined as you are, I don't
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  Speaker 1: think you'll need luck so just but I'll still wish it.
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  Speaker 1: Good luck out there, Sandy, I know you're going to
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  Speaker 1: check that off. And thank you for coming in the
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  Speaker 1: booth and sharing this amazing story of yours. For anybody listening,
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  Speaker 1: it is possible. Sandy's told me she's not superhuman, She's
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  Speaker 1: just disciplined and determined.
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  Speaker 2: So thank you, Sandy, Thank you for having me