Stephen Meyers

stephenmeyers@coloradoan.com

Doug Meadows Age: 62 Residence: Fort Collins First marathon: 2001 San Diego Marathon

Jim Lynch Age: 57 Residence: Kihei, Hawaii First marathon: 1989 L.A. Marathon

Doug Meadows and Jim Lynch have crossed the finish line after running 26.2 grueling miles 99 times.

Both of them are aiming for that special No. 100 at Sunday's Colorado Marathon up the Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins.

Lynch, 57, comes from Kihei, Hawaii, and he's run 50 marathons in 50 states. Meadows, 62, is a Fort Collins resident and longtime runner of the Colorado Marathon.

Both altered their racing schedules so they can celebrate their milestones at Sunday's race that finishes in Old Town.

According to the 100 Marathon Club North America, 392 Americans have completed 100 marathons.

Just 26.2 miles to go and Meadows and Lynch can join that club.

Doug Meadows





Meadows' journey to 100 marathons started in the library.

It was fall 2000, and the Fort Collins resident went for a run. It hurt. So bad.

So, Meadows, a general contractor for DuPont, hit the books. He read a few books on running, picked up a training guide and decided to do a marathon.

Never missing a training run, Meadows ran the San Diego Marathon in January 2001. He couldn't walk for five days following the race, but Meadows caught the marathon bug.

He ran three more in 2001. He ran the inaugural Colorado Marathon in 2002, and he's run it every year since. It only made sense for No. 100 to start at Stevens Gulch in the Poudre Canyon and finish in Old Town for his 13th Colorado Marathon.

Inching closer to marathon No. 80 last year, Meadows started thinking ahead and plotted his race schedule so he'd hit No. 100 at his favorite race.

He ran 16 marathons last year and has run four already this year. He has hit several in Colorado, including Colfax, Denver Rock 'n' Roll, Steamboat, Rim Rock, Mt. Sneffels in Ouray and the hybrid road-trail Horsetooth Marathon. Over the years, he has taken advantage of his daughter Kate's employment at United Airlines, flying free — on standby — to marathons in Texas, North Dakota, Arizona, Utah and California.

The method to his training is something you won't find in running books at the library, however.

For about the last year and a half, Meadows hasn't run a step in between marathons.

Wait, what?

"And it's actually worked pretty good. Mostly, I didn't like doing all the grueling long training runs, going out and pounding for four hours or something," Meadows said.

Instead, you'll find Meadows on the bike, or in a fitness class or playing squash at the Fort Collins Club, 1307 E. Prospect Road. An avid cyclist, Meadows has done Ride The Rockies and gone bike touring across France.

Last year, he ran the Colorado Marathon in about five hours. Time goals are behind him now. His real goal is to be able to play squash right away after finishing a marathon.

Before a marathon, he eats a big ham-and-eggs-type breakfast.

"I don't think you're supposed to do that," Meadows said, laughing.

Basically, Meadows is in shape year-round, always ready to run 26.2 miles, or do a century ride. This summer, he plans on doing a trek across Switzerland with his other daughter, Emily.

At home, he keeps a spreadsheet of every run, bike ride, weight class or squash game he's played in the past 13 years.

"It's the only part of my life where I'm like that. I'm sure my boss would like me to do more detailed stuff like that at work," Meadows said.

How long does he plan on running?

"Forever," he said.

Jim Lynch





Lynch toyed around with running in the mid-1980s after his brother, Steve, started running at the local YMCA in Erie, Pennsylvania. Steve was a 230-pound, two-packs-a-day smoker and drinker who started to lose weight from running, eventually running the Boston Marathon.

So Lynch started running, too. And as a personal challenge from his brother, Lynch spent months training and signed up for the LA Marathon. On March 5, 1989, his marathon journey began.

"I thought that it was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," said Lynch, who went home that night dizzy and dehydrated and was sore for the next five days.

He ran his second marathon two months later.

By the time Lynch moved to Denver in 1995, he had run nine marathons. The idea to run a marathon in every state popped up while running across the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge in November 1998 at the New York City Marathon with his running partner David Zonker.

Just shy of nine years later, Lynch ran the Breakers Marathon in Newport, Rhode Island, for his 50th state, joining a club that today boasts about 500 runners who have achieved the 50-in-50 feat.

"I ran all the big ones: New York, Chicago, LA. Running through the boroughs of New York City is incredible. But probably one of the most incredible things I've found out is that I love the smaller races," Lynch said. "Communities put their heart and souls into it. People really love to show off their city. Places like Duluth, Minnesota, or South Bend, Indiana, and Jackson, Mississippi — these are places that I would otherwise have no reason to visit."

His favorite marathon?

St. George in Utah.

"The course was just surreal. You're running through the desert in the early morning, and the sun hits the red rocks and illuminates this stunning beauty," said Lynch, who moved from Denver to Kihei, Hawaii, in 2012.

His least favorite?

The Kona Marathon last June.

"The course was brutally, brutally hot. It just became a sauna bath out there. They started the race late, and we ran on some weird trail. We ended up running through the halls at the Sheraton. Whatever they did, it was a mess last year," he said.

While running the Maui Marathon, his feet were so beat up by blisters that he took his socks off to dry them out. He lost one on the course, and at the mile 20 aid station, asked if anyone had a pair of socks they could loan. An aid station volunteer lent hers, and Lynch hobbled to the finish with a new pair of socks.

Somewhere along his journey, Lynch decided he'd run 100 marathons, "a nice round number," he said. He picked the Colorado Marathon to be his 100th — and final, he said— for its proximity to Denver and his old friends from the running group he was a part of, Runner's Edge of the Rockies. The group provides pacing for the Colorado Marathon, and Lynch plans to run and celebrate with friends from his old home.

In his 25 years of running, Lynch has gotten married (to Debbie), has lost good friends, started a consulting business and run thousands of miles on roads, trails, beaches and mountains. He's chronicled his life in the book, "One Foot in Front of the Other," which is set to be released this fall.

The book's title is a favorite phrase of Lynch's, picked up from a sign on the side of the road while struggling through the 2009 New Mexico Marathon. The phrase helped him to the finish.

"I learned running has made me who I am today. I was able to excel more in business. I would push through a project. You can have one mile that's fantastic and the next you feel like you're dying. Your mind can push you through a lot," Lynch said.

Xplore reporter Stephen Meyers covers the outdoors and recreation for the Coloradoan. Follow him on Twitter @stemeyer or Facebook.com/ meyersreports.

Colorado Marathon

• When: 6:30 a.m. Sunday marathon and half marathon; 7 a.m. 10K and 5K

• Where: Marathon starts at Stevens Gulch in Poudre Canyon, finishes in the north end of Old Town Square

• Registration: Closes midnight Wednesday for 10K and 5K; marathon and half marathon full

• Expo: 4-9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Hilton Fort Collins, 425 W. Prospect Road

• Information:www.ftcollins marathon.com