EUGENE, Ore. – A major shift in the landscape of distance running is occurring in the NAIA, and Bushnell Head Coach Kyle Will is at the forefront, helping to shape the future of the Marathon and its place in the world of collegiate athletics.
In 2021, the NAIA included the Marathon as an event within the men's and women's outdoor track & field national championships for the final time. Citing a growing number of issues surrounding student-athlete health and the difficulties running in June in humid climates, the event was first switched to a half-marathon in 2022 before being eliminated completely the following year. Coach Will comments, "The NAIA has always liked having the Marathon as an event and as an opportunity for NAIA distance athletes, it was just the dangerous conditions in Alabama heat and humidity that caused a change, and I believe that is for the best."
While completely reasonable and understandable, given all of the extenuating circumstances, this decision didn't sit well with a number of NAIA coaches and alternatives began to be discussed.
Coach Will was one of four selected for the NAIA Marathon Committee, which was organized last year to begin the process of keeping the Marathon alive in the NAIA. "Having run several marathons myself, I love the event and was thrilled to be part of setting this up," said Coach Will. "Our goal, since it was removed from outdoor nationals, was to make the Marathon a standalone event. We wanted to tie it to cross country eligibility in the fall, and begin the process of making it an emerging sport and proving it could work."
Thus, the first NAIA Marathon Classic took place in December 2023, ran as part of the Cal International Marathon, one of the ten largest marathons in the country and a top qualifying event for the Boston Marathon. Coach Will said, "Being a part of the CIM, our athletes get to run alongside international athletes, be part of a 10,000-person event and all that goes with that, while at the same time representing their school. I think it is a great thing and I am so excited to continue what we started last year."
And the CIM has been a very accommodating partner for the race. According to Will, "Our partnership with the California International Marathon has gone very well. They love having us and they have even made some changes to registration, result reporting, and more, in order to make things easier for us."
As a team sport, scoring works similarly to cross country, however a team needs three finishers to score instead of five. The first event was a rousing success, with nine men's teams and five women's teams, and the momentum has carried into their second year. CIM afforded the NAIA 100 spots, 50 for the men and 50 for the women, and those spots have been filled. Nine men's teams and eight women's teams will compete for the team titles and a total of 30 Universities will be represented.
Now in the second year of a three-year trial period, Coach Will and his fellow organizers are optimistic that the event will eventually gain Championship Sport status within the NAIA. "This initial period is our opportunity to prove the concept is viable, so we can then petition to be considered a full NAIA sponsored sport."
The marathon-as-team-sport concept is quickly giving the NAIA a unique edge. Coach Will said, "As a coaches body, we often talk about the differences between the NAIA and the NCAA, more from a recruiting standpoint than anything. Some things we wish were the same, like the championship distances in cross country, but some things we like to have a different as they give us an advantage. The Marathon is just that. It gives us a recruiting advantage to a certain degree, but it also makes us stand apart from the NCAA."
Currently, qualification for the NAIA Marathon, which takes place once again at CIM on December 8, include completing twelve weeks of training, averaging at least 40 miles per week and athletes earn their spot based on their average distance over a pair of two-hour training runs.
The Beacons will have a competitor in the NAIA Marathon this season as graduate transfer Grant Kaminer (pictured) qualified to compete. Kaminer, who competed in the cross country season for the Beacons while simultaneously training for the longer distance, is ranked 37th in the event, but just 30 seconds separate runners 2-50.
"Grant has been killing the training," said Will. "He has done a few training sessions that show me he should run close to a 2:50. The first goal is to finish healthy and then from there we will see. I have been impressed with Grant as he has trained through some difficult personal challenges, balancing school, training, and student teaching and often having to do his training at 4:30 in the morning.
In his only season with the Beacons, Kaminer will look to break the school Marathon record of 3 hours, seven minutes, which has stood for 16 years. That isn't his only goal, however, as he aims to also qualify for the 2026 Boston Marathon. Coach Will said, "Grant is a prototypical marathoner. He does not mind running alone, in the dark, in the rain and the wind. He just grinds it out day after day and that is what a good marathoner needs to do. It is one of the most unforgiving events in our sport and one of the toughest mentally. Grant is that type of runner, so I think he will do well and expect this will be the first of many."