A Shawnee man who transformed his personal life through running is now attempting another big goal: do a marathon in every U.S. state.
On Sunday, Kyle Walker will take another step towards that goal by running his 15th marathon in the U.S. at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon in Biloxi, Mississippi.
The race is one of many that Walker has taken on since he started running in 2010 to deal with stress from a divorce and his own weight gain. When he reached his heaviest weight of about 320 pounds, he said a friend suggested he start running.
“I thought, ‘Haha. You’re funny. I’m never going to be a runner,'” he said. “But one night, I just went out and I thought I’d give it a try, and just kind of ran from the top of the street to the next street over, then walked a little bit, and then ran a little more, and just kept building on it.”
Now, with a supportive family behind him — including two daughters from his first marriage — Walker feels motivated to achieve his unique running mission.
“I have a very supportive wife who lets me get away with this nonsense of traveling around and doing races,” he said. “I stay at the bottom-barrel hotels, and I drive to almost everything. I don’t fly.”
Walker has lost more than 100 pounds
Fourteen years ago, Walker couldn’t imagine running regularly.
“Even after my first 5K, I thought, ‘Oh, this is fine. You know, I could do one of these a month,'” he said. “As I continued on, it became two a month and three a month. Now, it’s rare that I have a weekend I’m not at some form of race, either on the road or around town.”
In the time that Walker has been running, he’s lost and kept off about 100 pounds, as well as joined a local soccer club.
“It helped with my physical health. It helped with mental health. Running is a great antidepressant, as is pretty much any form of exercise,” he said.
Walker survived two open-heart surgeries
Walker’s journey through running included some unexpected turns, the most serious of which came in 2016 when he underwent two open-heart surgeries to replace a misshapen aortic valve he had since birth.
“I had run a half marathon in May, took two weeks off to just kind of rest and recover, went out for a run after that, and I couldn’t go a half mile without chest pain,” he said. “I go back into the cardiologist, they take a look and do all their tests. They’re like, ‘Hey, it’s gone. That valve is done. It is toast.'”
After chest pains persisted following the first surgery, Walker had to go in for a second operation, which almost killed him, he said.
“I almost (died) during that (second) one. I almost didn’t make it out of that situation, but thankfully, I did,” he said. “With rehab, I did my first 5K back from open-heart surgery in November of that year, about three months after. I walked it with my kids, but I was still out there getting my 3.1 miles.”
Walker has a podcast about running
As Walker logged more running miles and gathered more experiences about running, he started to tell others his stories through his podcast, Back of the Pack.
Coming from a perspective of a guy who started when he was in poor health to where he is now, Walker means it to be encouraging to both seasoned and novice runners.
“The kind of unofficial slogan of the show is, ‘I make the mistake so you don’t have to,'” he said. “I’ve made every mistake in the running world you can possibly make, and I love to be able to share that experience with others so that they can either laugh at it, or they know to avoid it themselves.”
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Walker thinks everyone should give running a try
After experiencing the healing effects of running himself, Walker encourages everyone to get out there and at least try it for themselves.
“So much of the running stuff is mental,” he said. “It’s all the stuff that you hear in society of, ‘You can’t do it’ or, ‘Oh, it’s bad for your knees’ or, ‘Oh, don’t do it unless you’re being chased.’ It is a wonderful form of exercise, and it’s kind of a basic human thing.”
Along with that, Walker said it’s been enjoyable to be a part of a community of people with similar health journeys.
“The running community in Kansas City, the people you meet are amazing,” he said. “You meet the most supportive runners. You meet people that will give you the shirt off their back or the shoes off their feet.”
Wherever Walker’s next race is, he’s happy to be a representative of Shawnee and Johnson County.
“Being able to represent Kansas and Shawnee has been a really meaningful part of my running journey,” he said. “It’s helped me build a strong community of support and allowed me to inspire others who may be hesitant to get into running. I’m grateful to be able to share my story and hopefully, show people that they can achieve their fitness goals, no matter where they’re from.”
