Start Line Stories: Mexican Runner Sets Sights on a Big PR in Eugene

This week’s Start Line Story takes us nearly 2,500 miles south of Hayward Field to the beautiful city of Guadalajara, Mexico where 28-year old runner Guillermo Covarrubias is busy making big goals and upping his mileage to prepare for the 2024 Eugene Marathon.

Four years ago, Guillermo would not have called himself a runner. He was just a guy, dating a girl who convinced him to sign up for the local 5K.

“My girlfriend (who’s now my spouse) got me to sign up for the local 5K and we started running together,” Guillermo said. “That was March of 2020, so the race got cancelled, but we kept running.”

Not only did Guillermo keep running, but he kept improving and soon a 5K wasn’t enough — he set his sights on the marathon. A year after signing up for that first 5K, he completed his first official race, which just happened to be 26.2 miles long. Eugene 2024 will be his 7th marathon in three years and Guillermo has a lofty goal: to break 2:35.

Read Guillermo’s full Start Line Story below:

Name: Guillermo Covarrubias

Age: 28

Where are you from and where is home now? México

How many marathons and/or half marathons have you completed and what was your first road race?

I started running in 2020 so I’m brand new to running. I started because I was trying to find a way to stay active and my girlfriend (who is now my spouse) got me into running. She said: there’s a local 5K, you should do it. So we started dating and we started running together. The race got cancelled, but we kept running.

After that, I started running non-stop and pretty soon I felt like doing a 5K or a 10K wasn’t going to be enough. I wanted to do a half marathon and then ultimately a marathon and in 2021 I started signing up for races, but they just kept getting cancelled. The Cozumel Marathon in May of 2021 ended up being my first official road race. After that I started hearing about Boston and that became my big challenge: to qualify for Boston. I ran Berlin in 2022 and got my personal best of 2:39:25 and my BQ. Then I did Boston in 2023, then Chicago in the fall and CIM in December.

What inspired you to sign up for the 2024 Eugene Marathon?

The epic finish at Hayward Field is what drew me in. Once you’ve run some of the big races, you start looking for something a little bit smaller to get more focused on a goal. I was looking for smaller race and I came across Eugene and I read about the city and how it embraces running and how it’s Track Town USA. It seemed like a great place and great opportunity for me to focus on myself and my goals.

Do you have a coach or are you following a specific training plan?

Yes. I have local coach now and my training is going well. I’m taking a bit of a different direction this season and focusing on volume. My coach wants to see how I adapt to high volume training so I can get used to running on tired legs and having a better second half of the race.

Do you have a goal or goals for Eugene 2024?

Going sub 2:35 is my main goal. The numbers are a bit scary, but that’s what keeps me motivated. It’s a commitment to work hard and having bigger goals is really motivating for me.

Why run? I run to inspire others to join a community of passionate people, to get them moving and to let a marathon change their lives. This is what keeps me going.

Find Guillermo on Instagram at @covatron and see him on the start line in April!