Start Line Stories with First-Time Marathoner Alle Castro

Last November, Colorado runner Alle Castro was primed to run her very first marathon in NYC when a terrible sickness derailed her plans. Heartbroken, she had to defer. But as she recovered, Alle realized the 18 weeks of marathon training were still in her legs and she didn’t want to wait another year to make her marathon debut. So she started looking for a spring marathon. 

As a high school track & field athlete and lifelong fan of the sport, Alle landed on the Eugene Marathon, and the new mom now has April 26, 2026 circled on her calendar as the day she’ll run her first marathon.

Read more about Alle’s journey to Eugene in this week’s Start Line Story:

Name: Alle Castro

Age: 34

Where are you from and where is home now?

I’m from South Carolina a tiny town called Six Mile… and I currently live in Erie, Colorado (right outside of Boulder)

What’s your local run club or training group and tell us about it?

My husband started a nameless track club — we call it Track Club Saturdays — which is open to people in the Boulder area. But, being a mom, I run a lot on my own now; I jump in when I can, but I honestly can’t always fit it in my schedule. 

Why Eugene 2026? 

I had a bib to run NYC in the fall and then I got very sick two weeks before the race; I never got better, so I ended up doing a whole 18-week block and then I never got to run. With all that training still in my legs, I wanted to run a spring marathon and Eugene has always been on my bucket list. I grew up watching track and field, so I’m super familiar with the stadium and Eugene, and can’t imagine a better place to finish my first marathon than at Hayward Field. 

Current Total Marathon Count:

0 (Eugene will be number 1!)

Favorite road race or racing experience?

I’ve always just run for fun. I didn’t get into racing until 4-5 years ago. I used to run with no watch and no route; I would just run until I didn’t feel like it anymore. I started doing the Bolder Boulder and it’s amazing! It’s a 10K that’s like a huge party every Memorial Day and I’ve done it for five years in a row. It’s definitely my favorite!

What kind of training plan are you following and do you have a specific goal on race day?

I do one long run a week, usually with a workout in the middle of the long run. Then I’ll do a 40-minute easy run once a week, one track day with intervals and then, depending on the week, I’ll do hill intervals. So not super high mileage; I max out at 30 miles a week. It’s actually really hard for me, because I feel like social media pushes high volume and high miles, but I’m trusting my husband (who’s also my coach) on this one. And as for a goal, I hate saying it out loud, but right now, my goal would be to run a 3:30.

Finish the sentence: What I love so much about running is _____

__ I love that running teaches you grit that carries you through so many situations in life. Today, when I was running with snow pelting my face, I was thinking about that. When I have these hard runs — those times when I really don’t want to be out there — but I am, it translates to the moments in life when hard things happen and you just have to grit through. When my husband lost his job, last year, I was like what the hell are we going to do? But in those weeks that followed, I realized it was a patience thing and gritting it out through the hard times, and that’s something running has taught me.

Why the marathon?

I think it’s about the life lessons you learn from running 26 miles… I came out of my pregnancy — which was a surprise — and my life did a 180. I didn’t have a plan, I left my job, I ended up with really bad pre and post natal anxiety and the one thing that really helped was taking my son for long walks. Those walks turned into running for 30-seconds at a time, and just being outside and learning how to reuse my body. Running was the only thing that made me feel like myself again. Then my husband convinced me to train to run a marathon, and he was right: training for NY was life-changing. I felt confident and capable again. Just training for a marathon has taught me patience, persistence, and commitment.

What started your running journey?

I ran the 400 meters and I was on the 4x400 team on my high school track team. I also played basketball in high school, so running was always a part of life growing up. Then in college, running was my way to take a study break or just take some time for myself. It has always been an activity that gave me a way to reset or escape. That carried me through adulthood. I also did a little Crossfit after college, which I enjoyed, but running is what I came back to post-partum. It made me feel like myself again. And now that has turned into training for a marathon, and hopefully I’ll still be doing it until the wheels come off. 

How has running impacted your life?

It’s given me an inner strength that I never knew I had. Everytime I finish a hard run or a race, or even just go out for 15 minutes after a hard day, I’m instantly a better person because of it.

… 

Make sure to give Alle a big high five and some first-time marathon words of encouragement if you see her in your corral on race morning. And follow her training journey on Instagram: @alles.castro