“Don’t be afraid to hurt because it’s going to hurt. Getting better, getting faster – it hurts, it sucks, and it’s uncomfortable. But just being able to understand your limits and knowing where those are is a big first step in order to reach some of those goals.”

Last week, thousands of runners ran from Hopkinton to Boston to compete in the 126th running of the Boston Marathon. The 8th American that day was a college 400m runner from Wisconsin Stevens Point, Kathy Derks.

The progression that Kathy has made from her college days to her marathoning is incredible. Especially since she hated to walk when she was 10 years old and had her mom push her in a stroller during their vacation in New York City.

Kathy wasn’t recruited onto the UWSP team but simply asked to join. She came in as a 60-second 400m runner with room to improve and the determination to get better. It was after a breakout race her sophomore year where she finally dipped under 60s that she realized her potential.

As he moved to the cross country team to help her 800, she began taking running more seriously. And her times dropped with her increased dedication. When the dust settled, Derks was a 57/2:13 400/800 meter runner after improving from a 60/2:29 runner.

After she graduated, she had difficulty not being on a team and gravitated toward distance running. She started running because she had the time to do so. As she trained for her first marathon, the goal of running Boston became her focus. She ran 3:01 in her debut and was hooked.

As her marathon days progressed, she needed help to achieve her goals. She reached out to a friend to coach her and the partnership has seen even more improvement. As she grasps what this new PB means to her, Kathy will continue to run for the love of it. In 2024, she’ll toe the line of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials hopefully as a 2:30 marathoner.

Marathon Progression:

2018 – 3:01

2019 – 2:50

2020 – 2:39

2021 – 2:36

2022 – 2:34

---

Photo Credit: Alison Wade

---

Summer of Hayward

Don’t miss out on all the action leading up to the World Championships. Hayward Field will host so many great events that you don’t want to miss. Get your Summer of Hayward Tickets now!

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall – so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

Quotes

On Improving your running

Don’t be afraid to hurt because it’s going to hurt. Getting better, getting faster – it hurts, it sucks, and it’s uncomfortable. But just being able to understand your limits and knowing where those are is a big first step in order to reach some of those goals.

On how she views herself with her times

I never view myself as being in the elite or as being a professional athlete. I do this for fun. I’m not sponsored. I don’t have a lot of monetary support through brands. So, I and I have a full time job and do this because I’m very passionate about it and want to push my limits.

On the crowds at Boston

So at mile 10 or 11, I raced the whole thing alone. But the really cool thing about Boston is you’re never alone. I was running alone, but the crowd shows up and I never felt like I was alone because everyone was still cheering for me and in it with me.

On motivation

I’ve always been a very intrinsically motivated individual. Even though there is prize money on the line, I never go into a race thinking that. I always go into the race thinking I want to run to my ability and see what I can do.

On her love for running

I just truly, genuinely love running. It’s one of my passions. And so even if I wasn’t competitive, I would still probably run all of the time. I just genuinely love it. It’s me time. That’s the time where I don’t have to pay attention to anybody else. It’s just me. And that’s it’s my entertainment. So going forward, all time goes aside, I want to be able to do this for a very long time.