The annual BMW Dallas Marathon Festival is set to take place this weekend, drawing thousands of runners to the city for a myriad of races.
Photo by John-Micheal Kretz.
The slate of events benefiting Scottish Rite for Children will begin tonight with the Friday Night Lights Mile at Dallas City Hall Plaza. Tomorrow, the EIGHT K, 5 K, 5K team, 5K walk, and 100 meter dash will take place before the full and half-marathon on Sunday. To learn more about routes, ticketing, and event information, visit the BMW website.
There are a few Lake Highlands neighbors getting ready to participate. Among them, John-Micheal Kretz has run two half-IronMan races, two full marathons and over 20 half-marathons. This year, Kretz is planning to run the full Austin Marathon in February and will use the half-marathon on Sunday to train for the race.
We caught up with Kretz before the busy weekend to learn more about his preparation. Here’s what he had to say:
How long have you been training?
For this half marathon, probably two months, three months, and then for a marathon, you generally prepare about four months. You can’t cut it in half. For a half marathon, it doesn’t really work that way. But I think you can’t start from scratch in two months and expect to have a good day on race day, so you really have to have a really solid base.
Has it been hard to stay motivated?
It’s harder when it’s really hot or really cold to get motivated to get outside. So the fall season really helps with that.
What have you been doing to prepare?
“It’s four to five days. Those days will be anywhere between three miles at the very low end, kind of just a warm up between a more aggressive training run. And then you’ll have long runs on Saturdays, Sundays, that could be up to the distance that you plan to run. You know, during the week, it’s probably anywhere from five to eight miles per day, and those are different speeds.”
How long have you been running?
I have run off and on since high school. I think as I’ve gotten older, and I have kids, it’s become more of a priority for me to stay fit and be able to participate in whatever they’ve got going on, but also set a good example for them of setting and achieving goals, working really hard towards something you’ve committed to. So I think there’s a lot more to it. I mean, I love the running aspect, and I love being outdoors, but there’s more to it than that. I think it can be a teaching opportunity as well.
How excited are you to cross the finish line?
It’s always great when it’s finished, and it’s a great sense of accomplishment. You put a lot of time and effort into it, and so there’s a sense of pride, especially when there are 20,000 people that are with you doing the same thing. It’s a really, really great experience.
