Meet RUNColumbus team member Tom Anderson. Tom has been married for 40 years to his wife Sandy, and they are blessed with two daughters and five grandchildren. Tom is an active member of the Columbus Westside Running Club and qualified for the Boston Marathon at the 2021 Columbus Marathon.
Why/when did you start running? I started running 40 years ago after graduating from college, realizing how out of shape I was. I soon began doing races from 5k to 10k and enjoyed the process of trying to improve. Columbus did not yet have a half marathon so ran my first marathon in 1989. For the next 20 years while raising by daughters I continued to run but at a much lower volume with only an occasional race. With the kids grown, I trained and ran my first half marathon in 2009 and after running several more I ran my second marathon in 2012. Since then I have run 8 more marathons with my latest being the 2021 Columbus Marathon where I finally Boston qualified by over 6 minutes and came within 2 minutes of my first marathon time.
What is your favorite aspect(s) of running? I love so much about running. I love testing myself and trying to achieve goals I never thought possible. I love being 64 and still feeling like a kid that gets to play every time I go for a run. I love being a member of the Columbus Westside Running Club these past 6 years. I look forward to running with my friends each week on our group runs. We love to say it is always better together.
What excites you about being part of the RUNColumbus Race Series and Team? I have been so focused on the marathon distance these past years, I haven’t done many other races. With the RUNColumbus Race Series, I am looking forward to racing more often, focusing on the shorter distances and seeing how I do against others my same age.