Martin Brings LA Marathon Championship Experience Home as Jackson High Coach
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
April 23, 2026
Nathan Martin has the best possible example a coach can give when it comes to the old phrase, “It’s never over, until it’s over.”
Last month, the Jackson cross country head coach and track assistant captured national attention when he miraculously came from behind to win the Los Angeles Marathon.
The winning margin was one hundredth (0.01) of a second.
“I didn’t really know if I won,” said Martin. “I tried not to get too emotional or celebrate too much. Then people around me started confirming it.”
Martin, 36, was running his race when, with about five miles to go, he had a surge and passed the pack he was with to get comfortably into second place.
“There was only one guy to catch at that point; he was so far ahead,” Martin said. “I couldn’t even see him. At that point, it was like, ‘Okay, let’s push, let’s finish, be strong, and all that kind of stuff.”
Slowly, the leader came into focus.
“Within the last mile, I’d say, he came into view,” Martin said. “By 800 meters to go I thought I had a serious shot to try and win.
“I made one final surge. That last 800 was super painful. I was thinking to myself maybe I’ll catch him, maybe I won’t, but I definitely wanted to make sure I crossed that finish line with no regrets, knowing I left everything out there.”
As he and the leader, Michael Kimani Kamau of Kenya, approached the finish, the crowed braced for the finish.
“It was the last 50 to 80 meters where the true opportunity to win presented itself and I took full advantage of it,” Martin said. “When I crossed the line, it was so close. I was trying to hold back the excitement and emotions and all of that kind of stuff. People started confirming it, and it was surreal. I just started absorbing the moment and everything going on.”
He credits his own coach, James McCurdy, with preparing him with everything from the right nutrition to handling the Los Angeles heat to the running strategy.”
“It was painful, but I still had something left in the tank,” he said. “If the race would have been a couple miles longer, I would have been okay (to finish).”
Martin finished with a personal best time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, 16.5 seconds. It was the closest finish in LA Marathon history.
“It was pretty special,” Martin said.
Martin was born in Chicago Heights, Ill., and moved with his family to Three Rivers before he started school. He began running in middle school and competed throughout high school. He ran the mile in high school and the 5K in college.
“I had a lot of success in my running journey,” he said. “Eventually, my coach thought I had what it takes to run a marathon.”
It wanted until late in his college career at Spring Arbor University that Martin ran his first marathon. He was 23.
“I won the 10K, then 36 hours later I won the marathon,” he said. “My coach was like, ‘Okay, you need to do this.’”
Martin is now a professional runner and has sponsors. He was at the Boston Marathon on Monday making appearances and connecting with people in the running community.
After college he began substitute teaching while trying to advance his running career. That’s when he launched his coaching career.
“There was a year where I was substitute teaching and going to races to try and place well,” he said. “By year two or three, I was coaching and I’ve continued that on.”
Martin said coaching is rewarding, “Especially seeing a kid overcome some kind of challenge.
“It’s being able to use my experiences to give back,” he added. “I want to help kids along their running journey. Even if they don’t become a big-time runner, I hope the types of lessons they learn, they can apply in life.
“Just see them be able to fight through something makes me feel like I am making a positive impact in the world.”
Martin has run fewer than 20 marathons in his life. “If you are training at an insanely high level, you usually look at doing one, maybe two or three a year,” he said.
He has taken some time away from marathon training recently as he’s made several national appearances.
And an assistant at Jackson this year, he said he’s noticed a buzz around the distance runners.
“There’s way more interest in distance running,” he said. “Normally they give me my two minutes of fame, then they are back to being high school students. This has been different. They’ve made me feel like definitely I’ve done something.”
He will begin ramping up his training and plans on competing in a half marathon soon, then has set his sights on either the New York or Chicago Marathon.
“It’s been pretty cool,” he said of the running community in Jackson. “They’ve been showing me a lot of love, and they are super proud. If I did Chicago, I imagine I would get a chunk of people down to watch. I’ve had so many people supporting me. It’s a really good feeling.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Nathan Martin, middle with clipboard, coaches his Jackson distance runners. (Middle) Martin poses for a photo with a community award he received from the school. (Photos courtesy of Nathan Martin.)
Preview: Rankings Call for 1st-Time Championship Celebrations
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 5, 2021
If rankings hold true, Saturday could see at least a few first-time boys cross country celebrations at Michigan International Speedway.
Otsego in Division 2 and Johannesburg-Lewiston in Division 4 are the top-ranked teams heading into the day, and both are seeking their first Lower Peninsula Finals championships. Caledonia is the top-ranked team in Division 1 and seeking its first title in 1996. St. Louis is No. 1 and won last year – but surely the Sharks will be up for celebrating a repeat as well.
Individually, Hartland’s Riley Hough will finish a high school career that has seen him rank among the state’s best all-time, and Pinckney’s Caleb Jarema and Benzie Central’s Hunter Jones are mere steps away from joining him.
The day’s first races at Michigan International Speedway begin at 9:30 a.m., and all eight will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv – click for full details.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Romeo
2020 runner-up: Caledonia
2021 top-ranked: 1. Caledonia, 2. Brighton, 3. Grand Haven.
After finishing 32 points behind Romeo at last season’s Final, Caledonia is favored to win its first championship since claiming the Class B title in 1996. The Fighting Scots graduated their top runner from last season’s team but return their next four finishers led by senior Josh Oom, who placed 24th a year ago. Brighton also graduated its top runner from last season but brings back the next four from the Finals lineup. Sophomore Seth Norder and Grand Haven as a team didn’t reach the Finals a year ago, but he was a Regional champion last week and is backed by 2020 individual qualifier Nolan Clark, a junior. Romeo is ranked No. 4 and returns four of its top six from a year ago, led by senior Jack Kelke, who placed 10th individually.
Individuals: Hartland senior Riley Hough has been one of the headliners statewide this season, and his best time of the fall (14:37) is well ahead of the field after he also ran the second-fastest time in MHSAA 5K Finals history (14:49.62) in 2020. He’s one of three top-10 and five top-20 finishers returning to this race. Farmington senior Peter Baracco was fourth at the Finals last season, 19th as a sophomore and 17th as a freshman, and Traverse City Central senior Luke Venhuizen has the division’s second-fastest time this fall after finishing 18th in LPD1 last season. Third on this year’s list is Lapeer senior Jeremy Williams, who was second to Venhuizen at their Regional at Saginaw Heritage.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: Fremont
2020 runner-up: St. Johns
2021 top-ranked: 1. Otsego, 2. Grand Rapids Christian, 3. Pinckney.
After Fremont won the last two team titles and Chelsea won back-to-back the two seasons before those, it may be Otsego’s time to climb the podium after finishing runner-up in both 2015 and 2019 and third last season. The Bulldogs return three runners from the 2020 Finals lineup, with senior Nick Cockerel having finished 20th individually and now leading the way. Grand Rapids Christian is seeking its first championship since 2014 and brings back six runners from last season’s ninth-place team. Pinckney was fifth last season and brings back four of its top six finishers including senior Caleb Jarema, the individual runner-up a year ago. Senior Conor Somers was fifth individually last season, but Fremont graduated its other four scorers from that repeat champion.
Individuals: Jarema and Somers top a group of nine returning from last season’s individual top 20. Jarema has the division’s fastest time this fall at 14:57, and Spring Lake senior Ian Hill is second on that list and finished eighth a year ago. Dearborn Divine Child junior Michael Hegarty has the third-fastest time in Division 2 this fall and finished 10th at the 2020 Finals. Chelsea has a chance to make a push in the team competition, with sophomore Connell Alford leading the way after finishing 11th individually a year ago. Parchment junior William Winter is running in Division 2 and finished 10th in Division 3 in 2020.
Division 3
Reigning champion: St. Louis
2020 runner-up: Hart
2021 top-ranked: 1. St. Louis, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Hart.
After winning its first championship last season since 2005, St. Louis is favored to come out on top again. The Sharks return four of last season’s top six including three runners who placed among the individual top 23, led by senior Aaron Bowerman in ninth and senior Nate March in 17th. Hart was a close second last season, just 13 points back, and despite graduating its top two from that lineup returns the next four runners. Traverse City St. Francis was third a year ago and has three of its top six runners back. Ithaca is intriguing; the Yellowjackets graduated their top runner after finishing seventh, but return the other sixth including two from the individual top 20 in junior Parks Allen (12th) and senior Espen Lehnst (15th).
Individuals: Seven of the top eight from last season graduated, but champion Hunter Jones is back. The Benzie Central junior is seeking his third individual Finals championship in three tries, and his best time this fall (14:44) is 42 seconds faster than the field. Manton senior Noah Morrow has the second-fastest time this season and was the next-closest placer returning from last fall after coming in eighth. Kalkaska senior Tyler Guggemos is a two-time Regional champion, and he has posted the division’s third-fastest time.
DIVISION 4
Reigning champion: Carson City-Crystal
2020 runner-up: Breckenridge
2021 top-ranked: 1. Johannesburg-Lewiston, 2. Concord, 3. Hillsdale Academy
Johannesburg-Lewiston is seeking its first Finals championship in this sport, with five of its top six back from last year’s team that finished 23rd. Concord is looking to return to the top after winning three of four Division 4 titles from 2009-12, and three of the team’s top five from last year’s third-place team are back led by senior Jonathan Mikovits (ninth individually). Breckenridge is ranked No. 4 and is an interesting possibility after also winning the 2019 championship. The Huskies have four runners back from last year’s runner-up team led by senior Mason Sumner, who placed third individually. Reigning champion Carson City-Crystal also has four runners back despite graduating individual champ Coleman Clark.
Individuals: Sumner is the highest-placing of 10 runners back from last season’s top 20, and he has the second-fastest time in the division this season. Petoskey St. Michael senior Samuel Paga is back after coming in fifth, and Webberville senior Nathan Lott is running after placing sixth in 2020. Wyoming Potter’s House junior Lezawe Osterink has cut nearly a minute from his best time from a year ago and is undefeated this season, with his 15:42 topping the list of Division 4’s fastest this fall.
PHOTO Davison’s Iain Forrest (28) and Dexter’s Brandon Anderson (45) are among runners returning in Division 1 this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)