From 300 lbs To 2:38 In The Marathon

If you asked Ben Kassel just 6-months ago if he could run a 2:38 marathon he would have said you were crazy. He only started running a few years ago with the intention of losing weight. He weighed 300 lbs and didn’t enjoy running until he did his first race. “Most of the reason I run is for the competitive nature of it,” says Kassel. He hasn’t stopped racing ever since with recent PRs of 2:38:34 at Jack and Jill’s Marathon (4th overall) last month, a 16:43 5k at NC USATF Champs and a 1:17:15 at The Scream Half Marathon.

August 5, 2019 / 10

“Jay Has Been Instrumental In Helping Me Become A Stronger Runner”

Ben Kassel placed 7th overall and 1st in the M35 age group at the REVEL Mt Charleston Marathon. His official time was 2:43:29. [Full Results] Ben currently works with Run SMART Project coach Jay Bawcom.

Thanks for the project’s support, Jay has been instrumental in helping me become a stronger runner these last few months. Cheers!

May 4, 2019 / 7

“Just Follow The Plans And You Will Improve!”

Jonathan Giles has showed consistent progress since he started training with us back in 2015. Below he shares how working with a coach allowed him to step up his game. He and coach Jay Bawcom are targeting the Brooklyn Half next week.

May 10, 2018 / 6

Jason Yi Rediscovers His Love Of Running

Jason Yi of Portsmouth, NH broke his long time goal of breaking 1:40:00 at the Cape Cod Half Marathon. His official time was 1:39:36, over 2-minutes faster than his performance the previous year. [Full Results]

November 14, 2017 / 7

Hakim Earns New PR Along With World’s Largest Medal

Hakim Ghanem set a new PR at the Chicago Half Marathon this past weekend. His official result was 1:44:55, 4-minutes better than his previous best. [Full results]

Not sure which is more impressive, the new PR even though this was just a workout for Hakim as he prepares for his goal race (Chicago Marathon) in a few weeks, or the brand new hardware he received at the finish?!?!

September 27, 2016 / 3

Mark Shilling Runs 2:43 In London

Mark Shilling of Summit, NJ capped off his breakthrough spring season with another big PR at the London Marathon. After setting a new personal best at the NYC Half (1:18:04), Mark dropped 9-minutes off his marathon best in London. Thanks to very even pacing (out in 1:21:23) his official time was 2:43:10. [Full Results] He was 74th out of 4269 runners in the 40-44 age group.

Mark (pictured right, bib 54174) works with Run SMART coach Jay Bawcom. Congrats, guys!

May 25, 2016 / 3

Mike Prest Nets PR Hat Trick

Mike Prest and coach Jay Bawcom are on a roll this fall. Mike capped off a hat trick recently at the Chicago Marathon [full results]. After the race Mike talked about his recent progress…

Within the past month I PR’d in a Half Marathon, 5K and now today a Marathon. I beat my 2012 Grandma’s time by over 27 minutes and over 1 minute faster per mile.

My original plan was just to finish, so a 3:30:11 was way beyond my expectations when I started working with you.

October 15, 2015 / 3