My start in running came from a promise that I made to my grandfather. In August of 1976 my grandfather was dealing with terminal lung cancer. I was spending as much time with my grandfather that summer as possible. On my last visit with my grandfather it just happened to coincide with the 1976 Olympics. My grandfather was not get around very well so we spent our time watched the Olympics on TV together. Of all the events during the Olympics there was one that captured our attention and excitement more than all others — the marathon. 

There was a lot of hype that year around one of the runners representing the United States in the marathon, Frank Shorter. Frank had won gold in the previous Olympics held in Munich, Germany and there was a lot of hope that Frank could win again on North American soil. After all the hype surrounding the marathon we were both really looking forward to watching the marathon, and what a race it would be. We got up early to see the start of the race. Frank was running in the lead pack from the start of the race. It looked like he was running the race of his life and was well on his way to becoming a back-to-back two-time winner of the marathon. His lead was so large there was no way anyone could catch him. Then, out of nowhere, the East German runner Waldemar Cierpinski had chased down Frank. At mile 23 Waldemar pulled away and passed Frank. Waldemar would go on to set a new Olympic record to win the gold medal. It was the most amazing race I had ever seen. 

At that moment I wanted to be like those marathon runners. Even though Frank ended in second, he was my hero. At the end of the race, I looked at my grandfather and said to him, “Grandpa, some day I am going to run that race.” My grandfather looked at me, smiled, and said, “You will do remarkable things in your time.” 

Two weeks after I had made that promise to my grandfather he passed away from lung cancer. After his passing, I would feel the weight of my promise every time I would go for a run. I knew that someday I had to run that marathon for my grandfather, I had to fulfill the promise. At the time, there was only one marathon in the country that was recognized and talked about — the Boston Marathon.  So I grew up dreaming that someday I would be running the Boston Marathon for my grandfather, fulfilling that promise I had made. As a kid, I would follow the Boston Marathon and read all about it, I would dream of running for my grandfather. As I got older, life happened, you go to school, you start a family, you start a career, some dreams fade away, and some become near impossible. I never let go of my dream of running the Boston Marathon for my grandfather but it did at times feel like the impossible dream. On May 13th, 2021, I received the call I had dreamed of my whole life, I was asked to be part of the 2021, 125th running of the Boston Marathon. On October 11th, 2021 I lived my dream and fulfilled my promise to my grandfather, I ran the race of my life, and completed my 11th marathon running the most storied marathon of them all, the Boston Marathon. To make this moment even more special I ran the race with my 78-year-old mother. My amazing mother, Karen Ostlund, has run more than 100 marathons and the Boston Marathon has always been her dream marathon also. 

After living my dream of running the Boston Marathon I had decided not to do another marathon but instead help all those who want to live their own marathon dream get to the start line. I have 12 years of distance running experience with 11 full marathons and 65 half marathons. What I love most about running these days is getting up early and seeing the world before everyone else. The marathon will change you, the person that crosses the finish line is not he same person who started the journey. I can get you to the start line…but the rest is up to you.