26.2 miles of glory
By Cheryl McCormack
Editor
There will come a point in the race, when you alone will need to decide. You will need to make a choice. Do you really want it?
Nathan Stamstad made that choice on Saturday, as he was in the midst of running a full-marathon. He really wanted it and he got it, pulling off his first 26.2 mile, first place win.
Stamstad is a math teacher with the Wilton School District and is currently the assistant coach of the Southern McLean Roughrider Cross Country team.
During college, he participated in track and cross country at the University of Mary, maxing his distance to 6.2 miles, the equivalent of a 10k.
Saturday’s full-marathon is only the second he’s competed in. Having finished in fourth place during the 2013 Bismarck Marathon, Stamstad decided to give the race another go.
He said, "I wasn’t expecting to win, or even come close to winning. Last year, the winning time was 2:36, the year before that it was 2:43. My only goal, going into the race, was to improve my time from last year (which was 2:55:11)."
