Micah Lorenzen cruised through the finish line besting his goal and beating a personal best time at under 2 hours and 30 minutes for a marathon. The 26-mile run of the Detroit Free Press Marathon is a grueling
test, but as the race neared the finish, Lorenzen kept getting stronger. The Lutheran High School Westland principal was elated to finish 4th. “I knew I had a good time going, and catching some people toward the end (helps) you forget about the searing pain in the quads.” Said Lorenzen. “It was a fun last ten minutes there.”
The route goes over the Ambassador Bridge to Canada, back under the tunnel and throughout the streets of Detroit. Over the last handful of miles, Lorenzen pushed from 10th place all the way down to 4th. While others faded, Lorenzen kept his pace, spurred on by his family and the crowd. “The crowd was great, and it was just a lot of excitement.”
Training for a marathon is never easy and very time consuming. Being a high school principal isn’t easy, either. In order to balance his time, Lorenzen says he spent a lot of time running in the dark, whether before sunrise or after the sun went down.
Lorenzen isn’t the only accomplished runner in the family. His two sons just competed in the Lutheran Nationals Cross Country Meet at Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon. Both boys placed in the top 5 in their respective divisions, including a dominating performance by Nole, who won nationals by almost 30 seconds. Nole’s pace was a blistering 5:26 per mile, winning the 2-mile race with a time under 11 minutes.
If you’re wondering who is the fastest in family, dad Micah says it’s still him—for now. “They try to keep up with me sometimes, but they are rapidly improving,” said Lorenzen. “They’re going to get a lot better and I’m going to get a lot slower quickly, so we’re going to cross soon.”
Featured image © Pavel1964/iStock
Detroit Marathon photos and video footage courtesy of Detroit Free Press Marathon
Photo of Lorenzen family courtesy of Micah Lorenzen
