As a kid who grew up in Portage, Indiana, Brian Kim, 25, had no hand-eye coordination and ran a 19-minute 5K as a junior in high school. Kim came to run the Eugene Marathon with something to prove to everyone who remembers him in his youth — that he is good enough.
Kim runs because he wants to prove to not only his peers but to himself that he is no longer the overweight, unhappy child everyone, himself included, remembers. He feels good about himself when he runs. He is proud of himself for sticking with it despite times when he hasn’t wanted to continue due to the mental and physical toughness the sport requires.
Despite the warm weather for the Eugene Marathon on May 1 and all the other ups and downs a marathon can throw at a runner, Kim persevered and qualified for the Boston Marathon with a time of 3 hours, 57 seconds.
Kim went into the Eugene Marathon with a plan, to run the first mile in 6 minutes, 50 seconds, and then start dropping five seconds per mile every four or five miles. But with the excitement of the race, he started out faster than he had anticipated. Eventually, he eased back and found his rhythm. But then he reached mile 16, and hit a wall.
“I started thinking, ‘I’ve got to push through this wall.’ I muscled out that mile and got back in the 40s [about 6:40 mile pace] and started feeling better,” Kim said. “Then it started getting warmer, and there was a big hill on mile eight which took me two or three miles to recover from. And with little bumps, it took a toll.”
Kim started running in sixth grade when his mom remarried. As a slightly chubby, non-athletic child, Kim wanted to try something, as long as it did not involve hand-eye coordination. So his stepdad, who had a friend who ran road races, signed him up for a 5K.
“I think I finished in about 40 minutes,” Kim said.
But Kim was hooked. With a little encouragement from his middle school teacher, who also happened to be the high school coach, Kim continued to run in high school. Despite being the slowest guy on the team his freshman year and only breaking 25 minutes in 5,000 meters once, Kim continued to run and hasn’t stopped. He still continues to visit the place where it all began, Portage High School in Portage, Indiana.
“I graduated six years ago, but I still go back every year,” Kim said. “I developed close relationships with the guys in all the classes. We have such a deep culture at Portage, it’s like a family atmosphere. So I enjoy coming back and supporting everyone when I can.”
Nick Heimberg, also a Portage native, graduated in 2015 and now attends the University of Oregon. As one of the guys who participated avidly in track, he developed a close relationship with Kim.
“I don’t even know how to describe him,” Heimberg said of Kim. “You just have to meet him. One thing I can say, though, is that he is very passionate about running.”
After running the Eugene Half Marathon in 1:40:55, Heimberg waited for over an hour to see his friend finish his race.
After finishing the Chicago Marathon in 3:18:48 last year, Kim wanted to run conservatively to get back on track and not bonk as he has the past two Chicago Marathons. With his 75-85 miles a week —lower than most marathoners—and moderate training schedule, Kim is preparing himself for the Boston Marathon later this year.
“It’s a special event, it’s a special place,” Kim said. “I’m glad I got to come here and experience this.”
