First-Time Boston Marathoner Will Christensen on 100-Mile Weeks & Chasing 2:40

DFW Running Talk: Will Christensen
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Chris Detzel: [00:00:00] Welcome to DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Detzel, so let's get started.

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I'm Chris Detzel and before we get started, this is the quick hit videos about folks that live in DFW or mostly live in DDFW and are running either Boston Marathon for the first time or maybe the 10th time. We don't know, but I do have a special guest will Christensen's on Will.

How's it going?

Will Christensen: Good. How are you, Chris?

Chris Detzel: Doing good, man. I appreciate your time and, we both know some of the same people, probably a lot of the same people, to be honest. And we're talking about a small

Will Christensen: world,

Chris Detzel: especially in the running community. Yes. It's small anyways.

Will Christensen: Yeah.

Chris Detzel: But we were talking about Dustin Esan, so I can say his name because I've said it so many times.

Will Christensen: I I still need to get to that level. I still mispronounce it. I just know him as Dustin.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, that's what most people do. You know this is your first Boston Marathon, is that right?

Will Christensen: Yes sir. Yes, sir. First time. Be a good.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. Tell me tell me about that. How long have you been trying for it?

What have you been doing? What's been going on?

Will Christensen: Sure. My running [00:02:00] journey really began a couple years ago. I ran track in high school, but didn't take it super seriously. I was in the army for several years and

Chris Detzel: Okay.

Will Christensen: Then when I was getting out, I was like I need to figure out some way to stay in shape and decided I'll get into running and started running and then Perfect.

Signed up for the Dallas Marathon was like, I've, I'd always wanted to do one, but I had never actually done it, so I signed up for the Dallas Marathon, went out and did it, and ran the 3 55 the first time and it was like, okay. It's pretty good. Yeah I liked it. I thought the Dallas Marathon was extremely well organized.

And then, went out and ran with my brother-in-law out in the St. George Marathon, which that's just beautiful course. The, it's

Chris Detzel: a downhill right.

Will Christensen: Yes. Very fast. High altitude. But yeah, all the net downhill. And we my wife and I just thought oh, this is a good excuse to travel and go see really pretty places.

And my, one of my friends was stationed at the Presidio in Monterey, California where they [00:03:00] host the big marathon. Big

Chris Detzel: Sur. Yeah.

Will Christensen: Big. Yeah, big. So it, that is got to be one of the prettiest marathons I've ever done. And so we went out and did it, and they. We ran it the first time in 2024 and they had a slight landslide and closed part of the course for those that participated in it.

They offered guaranteed reentry for the next year. And so we did that and at this point I'd been running for a few years and improved and I was like, okay, like I think I can make the attempt to get to Boston.

Chris Detzel: Yeah,

Will Christensen: it was a very ambitious goal of trying to Boston qualify and Big Sur. It's a very hilly course and I fell flat on my face.

Chris Detzel: What you what was your, what's your Boston qualifier? What do you have to run?

Will Christensen: My qualifier, so I'm 33, so 2 55 is the qualifier. And so that was just not in the cards for me that day. What'd

Chris Detzel: you run? Do you remember?

Will Christensen: I ran at. I ran a 2 57. It was sub three, but it still just wasn't.

Chris Detzel: Dang. That was, you didn't bomb it. You were very

Will Christensen: close. [00:04:00] No, but it was still, it was disappointing and it was like, dang it, I'm in the most

Chris Detzel: Did you get one, the three before?

Will Christensen: Yes. I had run San Antonio Rock and Roll. Okay. And that one was just a. Everything went right. Perfect weather. It was a little damp, but other than that, which that one was an interesting course.

I had lived in San Antonio before and it was fun to go back to old stomping grounds. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Detzel: All right, so you run Big Sir, and you vomit shitty two.

Will Christensen: Darn. Yes. And then like that, it was like that day or the day after I was on my computer typing up like, alright, what's, I need a something before September to get into the 26th Boston Marathon.

I want it relatively flat and needs to be a little bit cooler. And went through everything and found my diamond in the rough, the Nebraska State Marathon with like fewer than a hundred. [00:05:00] Participants for the marathon. Really? See August? Yeah, it was, it's a very small race.

Chris Detzel: That's perfect.

Maybe at first place

Will Christensen: a third. I got third. Oh that's right. When, yeah. Yeah. So and so the wife and I drove up to Nebraska. And is it like it was.

Chris Detzel: Or

Will Christensen: almost, no, it was Grand Island. It's smack dab in the middle. I've never heard of it. And we, so we went up and raced. It was by far the most unique race experience I'd had because you're running through these random residential neighborhoods.

With no crowd.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Will Christensen: And makes sense. Corn cornfields on right side and then a couple scattered houses on the left side. And it was crazy. The guy that got first place actually got lost the trail, the lead bike that kind of guides the participants through that guy got lost 'cause it wasn't super well marked.

But he still ended up winning [00:06:00] though. It was like, okay, yeah, there's that.

He

Chris Detzel: must

have

Chris Detzel: kicked some butt.

Will Christensen: Yeah. Yeah, he was. He was moving. But yeah. Ran at 2 47. And change that's huge, Nebraska. So I, yeah, I was super happy with it. Much easier of course than big, so turns out not quite as scenic, but Yeah.

Yeah.

Chris Detzel: I'm sure you ate some corn and, what'd you say?

Will Christensen: A lot of beef. Beef as well, and,

Chris Detzel: Oh, okay.

Will Christensen: Yeah. Yeah. And then I was very much a good boy beforehand, and then I was like, okay I, it's time to drink some beer at the state fair. And yes, went in to. Got to let loose a little bit.

So Grand Island, Nebraska and Nebraska State Fair kind of has a special place in my heart now or so. Yeah, any time anyone needs like a recommendation of a summer marathon before the BQ window, and it's Nebraska State Fair, like it's not anything pretty, but it's flat.

Chris Detzel: It's cool in, in the mornings, but Nebraska Hot.

Oh yeah. I lived there for a little bit.

Will Christensen: Yeah.

Chris Detzel: Okay. That's awesome. You [00:07:00] qualified and do you run with a group here at Dallas or?

Will Christensen: Yes. The main group that I run with, the wife and I run with is Addison Circle Running Club.

Chris Detzel: Oh yeah.

Will Christensen: They meet up right at Addison Circle, right where the big October Fest happens for Addison.

And then about a couple months ago I started running with the sloths. They are.

Chris Detzel: Beast.

Will Christensen: It's like if you wanna get fast run with them, it's like already in two and a half months, I've already felt I've been getting a lot faster running with them. So yeah. A good group of people you will out there too.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Will Christensen: Yeah.

Chris Detzel: I'm glad to hear that. All right. You've been running with those guys, and how are you feeling right now?

Will Christensen: Good. I just finished peak week, peaked at a hundred miles per week, and then had a good workout this last Saturday. And yeah, I'm feeling good, feeling confident. I want to, a goal is get a two 40 and then, af after that it's I just really just wanna have fun at Boston.

It'll be a, it's like getting there. Yeah.

Chris Detzel: You're going to Boston, we know this, and so you get an a goal of two 40, which is pretty bold. I like [00:08:00] it. You've been running with the loss, so certainly potentially doable. What do you know about Boston and what are you looking forward to the most and all of that kind of stuff?

As a first timer?

Will Christensen: Yes.

Chris Detzel: What have you heard?

Will Christensen: I know that the turn down boilston is supposed to be unreal, and now you're supposed to hear, the Wellesley scream tunnel from a mile away. And so with that in mind, it's like a lot of people are like, oh, have you gotten a playlist together? I'm like, Nope.

I am running no music, no nothing. Just wanna soak up the vibes in Boston. So that's really looking forward to that. I think of it like, as a kid, you think of. Disneyland and going to Disneyland. Yeah. And you just like, oh, it's just so exciting. It's like the adult equivalent of it, at least for runners, is Boston.

To me, it's the

Chris Detzel: Disney world of Boston. It's the Disney world of, runners. Yeah. For

Will Christensen: sure.

Chris Detzel: In general, not always, but for the most part, you have to qualify and is the best of the best, yes. And especially from the age group. Like I was talking to this lady today, she goes, oh, I'm not that fast.

I was like, [00:09:00] you're 66, you've done 13 Boston marathons, and you're the best of the best. Absolutely. You're qualifying, even if your time is four hours. That's really good.

Will Christensen: Yes.

Chris Detzel: There's, oh, I hope I could have,

Will Christensen: yeah,

Chris Detzel: there's not many people running at 66, first of all, and then that are running, four hour marathons around, so anyway.

Will Christensen: For sure. That's awesome.

Chris Detzel: That year.

Will Christensen: Yeah. That reminds me of I remember the wife and I went to, we went to the Grand Canyon and we were. Mid twenties and we hiked down to the river and we were down there, it's a downhill all the way down to the bottom. And we were there pretty tired and just, drinking from the river and everything.

And then we see this old couple, probably in their seventies just come trail running across the bridge. And then up the canyon and we're just like, man, I feel like a total chump, just watching these guys just mounting, goating it up. The, so yeah, for if you're 60 in your sixties and 13th Boston Marathon, she's doing something right.

Chris Detzel: A hundred percent. And I think she must go three or four more, but it's about you. [00:10:00] So anything else that you're looking forward to in Boston? Day before like your shakeout run, who are you gonna run with? What does that look like?

Will Christensen: One thing I'm really looking forward to. Is my dad's actually coming out for the Boston Marathon, so he's nice.

I grew up in Utah, so he's out there with my mom, but he just texts me one day was like, Hey, what hotel are you staying at in Boston? And it was just like, dad, that's so thoughtful of you.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. That's cool.

Will Christensen: Gonna spend some quality time with family, and yeah. We both wanna go.

We're both kinda nerds of I remember when my sister was living in Connecticut, we went and visited like this whaling museum up there and got onto the boat and everything and was like, oh, this is really cool. So going up to see the USS constitution would be really cool. Even though coming from an army guy, it's it's okay.

Even though it's Navy I boats are cool now and then. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Detzel: Boats are cool.

Will Christensen: Yeah. Yeah,

Chris Detzel: they're big, really big.

Will Christensen: Yes, sir. Yes sir. Yeah. Yeah. But Sam Adams brewery, I think that would [00:11:00] be fun.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Will Christensen: To hit up afterwards again, I've been a very good boy lately I'm looking forward to

Chris Detzel: it.

It's time to drink afterwards,

Will Christensen: yes.

Chris Detzel: A couple drinks.

Will Christensen: Yes, indeed. It's some climb chowder as well,

Chris Detzel: you gotta do it there in Boston. Of course. Have you been to Boston before of just as a

Will Christensen: Yes. I went when I was like 17. Okay. Me and my mom and my sister went out there and went to a Red Sox game.

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be able to catch a game when we're out there this time around. But yeah, it's it's a fun town. It, I'm sure it'll be, it's a great time. A lot cooler with you know what? The Coachella for runners going on the Boston Marathon. And

Chris Detzel: you said your wife's a runner too, or?

Will Christensen: She is. She is. Okay. Yeah, she got into it. When we did the St. George Marathon my sister actually did that with me as well. Nice. She finished it and then a couple weeks later was just feeling funny. And then she found out, oh, she was two months pregnant when she ran Oh, wow. The St. George Marathon.

And so that, that kind of inspired my wife to, to run And [00:12:00] then so yeah, then we've been doing it for some time. So yeah, it's been great.

Chris Detzel: I think it's great to have a partner that you can run away for. Oh, definitely. At least runs, not necessarily with, but sometimes. But that understands your training schedule.

You, they have one and you help each other to

Will Christensen: for sure.

Chris Detzel: Watch the kids for sure. Or whatever it is that you're trying to do.

Will Christensen: Exactly.

Chris Detzel: Alright. Anything that I left out or something that you would wanna say or talk about before we say bye?

Will Christensen: Yeah, I I think running is for everyone. I think it's a wonderful way to, to meet people, stay healthy lose weight and have something to look forward to. And the great thing is that the formula is the same, just the more you wanna improve, the more you run. And that it's simple as that. And it's a great way to have fun. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Detzel: I love that. Somebody told me once he's won the Dallas Marathon a couple times.

He goes, Chris, he goes, people if you look at some of these elite athletes, he goes, it's rare to see them running under 110 miles a week. And he said if they, oh,

Will Christensen: you're talking about Joseph Hale, right?

Chris Detzel: Yeah. He goes, you hear that?

Will Christensen: Yeah, I saw that one. [00:13:00] Yeah. It was great.

Chris Detzel: He just said it's that simple in general.

He goes, it's an nominally if they're not, and add some things in there and so

Will Christensen: Sure.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. You ruined it for me will. But yeah, it was Joe hell and tell you, listen every now and then, so that's good. I really appreciate you coming on. This has been great. Thank you sir.

Good luck in Boston and I'll be there. I'll do some quick hits. Perfect. So if you know anybody there that, that's gonna be at Park Plaza, stop by. And I'm gonna definitely some 15 minute interviews and try to get 'em out the next day and we'll see what happens there. But in the meantime, thanks everyone for tuning in to another DFW Running Talk.

I'm Chris Tetzel. Please subscribe to our newsletter at DFW running talk.substack.com, so you'll never miss an episode. We'll, thank you so much. This was really great.

Will Christensen: Thank you, Chris. Bye.