Meet Club Member: Troy Hoffland

Hello all!

I am Troy Hoffland.(MM16231)  I actually used to hate to run…now I’m hooked on it! On April 9, 2024 I began my running journey. I had an AMAZING friend of mine inspire & encourage me greatly to start this wonderful journey! I was 194 pounds then, now I’m 160lbs. I began that afternoon with a 1.6 mile “run” which was way more walk than run. I followed it up by running 34 consecutive days. On May 4th, I had a conversation with Sarah & asked if she thought I could run the Boston Marathon. Without hesitation, she said absolutely and this fueled my desire to run Boston! You see, I love history and have always been a competitive individual. I knew a little bit about Boston and knew it was the oldest, the “Grandaddy” of all marathons, so I’ve always had a desire, a lifelong dream to run it one day. I didn’t know if I’d ever run another or even want to, but I had a desire burning within me to run 1 marathon and wanted it to be Boston. Sarah helped me find a training plan to follow and I began my journey! I started reading books on running, books on the history of the Boston Marathon, talking with others about running and learning all I could as I made it a 6 day a week habit, at the age of 57 (I’ll be 59 in January). I joined a Facebook group called Boston Buddies and met many more incredible people that were so helpful, encouraging and supportive! Now I didn’t just have one friend I was learning from, I had a lot of them to learn from. I was running too much for my ‘old’ body and on September 1st I injured my right knee…I still wear a knee sleeve on it when I run. I ran 194 miles in August and ended up with patellar tendinopathy. I had to do something different because I didn’t want to stop running, but I didn’t want to injure myself either. Long story short, I joined FBF and hired Coach Lindsey Parry who founded Faster Beyond Fifty. Through his guidance and planning, I switched to running 4 days a week with 2-3 days of strength training and a Friday rest day!  

In October, I applied to be a charity runner to 3 children’s and 3 military charities. My 2nd interview I was chosen to run for Fisher House of Boston!!! I couldn’t believe that I was going to get to run BOSTON!!! I raised over $15,400 for Fisher House. I immediately, for some reason, signed up to run Big Sur and do the Boston to Big Sur Challenge (TWO in 6 days)! I knew after April 21 and 27th I would either LOVE marathons or NEVER run another 😊  

As part of my training for Boston and learning to ‘race’ I ran the Monterey Bay Half in November and the Mesa Half in February! Monterey was my first race in over 12 years, when I last ran 13.1. I PR’d at Monterey with a 2:08 at age 57 vs a 2:25 at age 45! I ran Mesa in 2:16.  Another part of my training was a 5-day trip to Boston in March over my spring break (I’ve taught for 37 years) where I ran different parts of the course over 4 days. The final day, I ran the last 13.1! I loved this trip because I got to experience all of the history of the course, the statues, the start and finish lines and meet a few very kind “Bostonians” along the route who have become good friends! It was a great experience and helped make my raceday experience even better!  

In 2025 at age 58, I ran Boston (an AMAZING experience) in 5:28, six days later, I ran Big Sur in the rain, while sick from my plane flight back from Boston, in 5:21!!! I set my 3rd PR at the 50th MCM in October at 5:09! I had 5 hours beat until mile 18 when my hamstrings began to tighten. I recently (Dec 13th) ran/walked the Inaugural Phoenix Marathon with a good friend in 6:40.  God willing, I WILL run BOSTON at least two more times!!

I am currently training to run LONDON 2026 and I’ll not only Smile Every Mile but also beat the 5 hour mark! I am a marathoner!!! I LOVE this!!! Thank you Sarah, Natalie, Vince, Jennifer, Mark & all of my running Buddies! 

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