Local man on his way home after competing in New York City marathon
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IDAHO FALLS – Robert Field is feeling the rush of achieving a sizable goal.
The 32-year-old assistant soccer and track coach at Hillcrest High School in Idaho Falls competed in the New York City marathon this weekend. He completed it in 2 hours 51 minutes and 20 seconds, which puts him in 584th place out of 51,291 runners.
Field and his wife, Aubrey, have been saving money for the last year to be able to participate in this event. In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com Monday night, Field says he’s thrilled with the opportunity and has enjoyed the experience.
“I wish my time was a little better because I have run faster in the past, but for how hard this course is I think I did pretty good,” Field says. “It was a blast.”
Field competed in the Boston marathon last year and he says the New York marathon is a bit harder because of all the uphill terrain.
The runner with the fastest time was Tamirat Tola from Ethiopia. He set a course record, running it in 2 hours 4 minutes and 58 seconds.
Field started running about five years ago after graduating from college. His sister ran marathons when he was growing up and that inspired him to do it as well.
Though he always enjoyed soccer, he says it was challenging to put a team together. He ran the Utah Valley Marathon with his sister in 2018 and has been hooked ever since.
“I’ve been getting faster every year,” Field says. “It’s really helped me set goals and stay emotionally stable. It’s been a lot of fun being able to compete in something again. In a lot of ways, it’s given me my life back.”
When he first started teaching, Field says it was difficult and there were a lot of things about the job he couldn’t control, which made it discouraging at times. Running has been a healthy outlet for him to cope with the stress of work and daily life.
“Every day when I went running, it helped me feel good. It helped me take on the challenges of the day and slowly improve. It gave me something to look forward to,” he says.
In 2021, he set a goal to qualify for the Boston Marathon. When he did, the neighborhood pitched in to help him get there.
Participating in the 6th largest marathon in the world was a major boost to his confidence, and it’s helped him realize what he’s able to accomplish with consistent, daily effort.
After participating in a Logan, Utah race this summer, Field says he qualified to compete in the Berlin, Germany marathon. Field has already applied and the couple plan to save their money and be there in September 2024.
“I’ll hear back Dec. 6 to see if I officially got in,” says Field. “I think it’s one of the coolest things to be able to set a goal and have something to work towards. It’s really cool to see everybody get together and help me accomplish these goals, too. It’s been awesome!”