Running in any marathon takes a lot of guts, perseverance, and tons of dedication. You can’t wake up one day and decide to run. You have to train and prepare and train some more.
This is exactly what Dustin Hurd, of Pleasant View, has been doing more than half his life. Having ran a total of 28 marathons now, he says of the Boston Marathon, “I never thought this dream would come true.”
His story begins back at Box Elder High where he ran cross country and lettered his senior year. Later, he served an LDS mission and went onto college. Dustin’s younger brother, Cody, also did the same. Following this, Cody started running marathons and encouraged Dustin to join him. This would begin their partnership of life-long running.
After the two brothers ran 15 marathons together, Dustin felt he should retire. He talked to his Dr. who told him, “Nobody should ever run a marathon.”
Upon hearing this statement Dustin chose to quit running for 3 years while his brother continued on.
Dustin says with a laugh, “Cody pulled me out of my temporary retirement.”
Incredibly, the two men have ran 25 marathons together. Their sights were set high to run in the Boston Marathon one day.
Dustin says, “Running isn’t for everybody.”
He adds, “My wife, Melissa, has ran one marathon and will likely not run another because of knee pain with longer distances--so definitely not for everyone.”
To prepare for the Boston Marathon Dustin and Cody began doing their “homework”’ by studying up on books, good training schedules, and nutrition. The results were a faster running time for both.
Here’s a breakdown of the journey that led the brothers towards their ultimate goal of Boston:
Big Cottonwood Marathon in September 2015 gave Dustin a running time of 3:14 followed by the St. George Marathon in October with a 3:13 time. He then applied for the following Boston Marathon only to receive a rejection email for not making the final cut.
Thrusting himself into training all winter and spring 2016 gave Dustin a chance to improve his qualifying time at the Ogden Marathon for Boston.
Unfortunately, in May of 2016, a set-back occurred and he was hit by a truck as a pedestrian. The Ogden Marathon was just 16 days away.
Dustin says, “Luckily I saw the driver and braced for impact. I kept my feet moving the whole time to avoid going under the truck.”
Due to this accident, there were 2 months of careful recovery. Thankfully, Dustin didn’t break any bones but suffered muscle spasms, back pain and migraines. However, he was determined to run the Ogden Marathon anyhow. And he did. Although his pace was off by 30 minutes for the qualifying time of Boston.
Therefore, training was scaled back due to the pain from the accident but he still persevered to gradually increase his miles in part to the excellent chiropractic care he received.
On July 25, 2016, Dustin felt good enough to run in the Deseret News Marathon in Salt Lake City—receiving a time of 3:13 again. First place in his age division but STILL not good enough to make the final cut for Boston.
In October 2016 he went onto run the St. George Marathon-- one more time-- and, amazingly, got a time of 3:05. This was the time needed to make the final cut! Younger brother, Cody, had a record time of 2:58!
Sadly, this race was AFTER the Boston Marathon application deadline was due for 2017! This was the race Dustin was supposed to run with his brother. He pleaded with Boston but was told no. Cody went onto run solo in the Boston Marathon in 2017.
The future was looking bright in 2018 as both brothers FINALLY got their big moment to run side by side in Boston!
Despite the dreary elements, “It was AMAZING!”, Dustin says.
“We had been watching the weather for weeks and it kept getting worse and worse…and worse. It-was-cold. There was non-stop rain and wind.”
Dustin tell us, “You get to the start where they bus up 30,000 people and there’s areas where you had 4 inches of mud to go through. My brother and I were in wave 1 and we were able to head out before others did.”
With all the rain the brothers didn’t expect many spectators to be out and about. But…
“There were tons. It was powerful. These people don’t know you but they are looking at you and, as soon as you make eye contact with them, they are your biggest supporter…there’s nothing like it.”
Dustin’s wife, Melissa, was a huge supporter near the finish line.
“We came around and spotted her and we could hear her hollering at us. I gave her a hug and went onto finish it.”
Together, Melissa and Dustin have 5 sons, one who is a runner for Weber High and another son, who, coincidentally, has the name, Boston. Maybe he’ll be a runner too?!
