Editor’s note: UNMC College of Medicine student Colby Karr completed the 2024 Boston Marathon, finishing 657th in a field of more than 30,000 runners.
Name: Colby Karr
Hometown: Blue Hill, Nebraska
Year: Class of 2027
Education: I completed high school in 2019 at Blue Hill High School in Blue Hill, Nebraska. I completed my undergraduate education at Nebraska Wesleyan University in 2023.
Hobbies: I love to play guitar, enjoy a round of golf, and go for a run in my free time.
What do you do to stay balanced? I stay balanced by allowing myself to sleep eight hours a night and work out for an hour each day. I have found that running is a great way to reduce my stress and enjoy the outdoors.
Can you tell us about your Boston Marathon experience?
The Boston Marathon was the most incredible race I have experienced. Race day feels like a national holiday by seeing how the Boston community comes together for Marathon Monday. Over half a million people line the streets to give high-fives, hold up comedic signs and cheer on all the runners. The crowd noise can be deafening around mile 21, where the runners ascend the most challenging part of the course: Heartbreak Hill. Despite the constant hills and this year’s race day temperatures, the crowds made it hard not to crack a smile during the race. As painful as the last couple of miles were, I cannot wait to go back to Boston to run again.
How long have you been running? Is Boston the high point for you as a runner?
I have been long-distance running since I was a sophomore in high school, and I continued running throughout college on the track and cross-country teams at Nebraska Wesleyan. Running Boston has been on my bucket list since I started running in high school, but I was afraid I would be unable to run throughout medical school. However, training for the marathon helped me focus better, sleep better and reduce my overall stress. Due to its extreme difficulty in qualifying, running the Boston Marathon is considered the peak for all runners, and it is hard to imagine another race that will top my experience in Boston.
Three things people may not know about me:
- I am the first person in my family to do anything in health care.
- I can solve a Rubik’s Cube in under two minutes.
- My first job was painting lines on baseball fields.