| From
Bloomsday to Boston
Finding the motivation to run can be the hardest part of the sport. For J.R. Kaschmitter, of Colville, it's all about how far he can take himself, and he just earned a place in the Boston Marathon. Kaschmitter grew up in Idaho, where he earned a running scholarship at North Idaho College, before graduating from Boise State and becoming a contractor. He took a 15 year hiatus from running, before he was inspired by friends Scotty Stalp and J.D. Marshall to get back into it. He started with Bloomsday, and training with friends. Every step of the way he wanted to push himself that extra step, even after he finished his first marathon. “It was humbling,” Kaschmitter said. “When I started I told my wife I was only going to run two marathons because it was a long ways to go.” Now Kaschmitter has ran six marathons and nearly 2,200 miles since he started training. Sunday, August 4, he qualified for the Boston Marathon at the Jack and Jill run in North Bend. He finished that race with an official time of 2:59:53 hours, and qualified in the 40-44 age group by over 10 minutes. Before that race, Kaschmitter was talking with another runner about qualifying times, when he realized the time he was initially shooting for was going to be close to the cut off. “I realized I had to push it,” He said. “It was a sense of urgency.” His wife and three children were there with him cheering him on to the finish line. “I want to lead by example,” Kaschmitter said. “My seven year old daughter has already started doing 5K's and I love seeing it.” Before Kaschmitter crossed the finish line, his wife Julie, was pacing back and forth awaiting his bright orange shirt to appear down a straight-away. “We were very hopeful (he would qualify),” She said. “Finally the kids saw him coming and all yelled, 'daddy!'.” Kaschmitter can't have his family next to him for support the entire 26.2 miles of a marathon. He said he has a lot of different thoughts across the multiple hour races: from focusing on his pace, thinking about the house he's in the middle of building at the time or finding an emotional boost with the thought of people who love to run, but aren't physically able to. Every now and then a song will pop into his head – even if he doesn't want it to. “On a trail run in Oregon I had the same song in my head for a full 50K race,” Kaschmitter said. “I think it was something by NSYNC, and I'm usually a heavy metal or rock kind of guy, so that was kind of my own battle on top of doing the course.” Kaschmitter trains by running 3-6 miles every day, followed by an hour workout. Then on Sunday's he goes on a 12-22 mile run. He said the hardest obstacle for him to overcome is going to be maintaining his training through the winter months, rather than the big hills that most runners worry about. “I've heard about heartbreak hill and all of that,” He said. “But running up here you're used to that kind of terrain.” The 2020 Boston Marathon will mark the 123rd year the event has been going – the oldest in the world, and be on April 15. Over 30,000 people entered the marathon in 2018, with 25,907 finishers. To date, there have been 580,732 finishers in the Boston Marathon, and Kaschmitter looks to join that group. After that Kaschmitter will keep running, with no aim to stop. His next goal is a 50 mile race called Run the Rut in Montana. There's no telling how far he will go. 
J.R. Kaschmitter competing in a run through some beautiful scenery in 2016. 
J.R. Kaschmitter with his wife, Julie, and 3 children after qualifying for the Boston Marathon at the Jack and Jill Run in North Bend, Wash. |
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