Athlete focuses on marathons

Jaxon McDonald runs the course at the Mesa Marathon. Photos submitted

By Tom Victoria

Jaxon McDonald goes the distance when most people stop. He’s running marathons.

The 21-year-old athlete ran his first marathon, which was 26.2 miles, in November.

“I ran the Madison Marathon, actually got 3 hours and 17 minutes,” he said.

Jaxon, a Minnesota resident who attends college in Iowa, already finished his first major run of 2025. He completed the Mesa Marathon in Arizona on February 8 in less than three hours. His time of 2:58 beat his previous personal record by 19 minutes.

“Running a PR at the Mesa Marathon was an unforgettable experience,” he said. “Breaking the sub-3-hour barrier was a huge milestone for me, and it’s only fueled my motivation to keep improving. The journey has been just as rewarding as the result, and I’m excited to see where I can take my training next. My next big goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which I’m documenting through my Road to Boston series on social media.”

Jaxon will keep hitting the pavement.

“I do have some future plans,” he said. “I have the Mesa Marathon in Arizona on February 8. The Illinois Half Marathon, that's lined up. I have the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, on June 21. I applied for the Chicago Marathon. I hope I can get in. I'm gonna train hard and I really want to break sub 3 in the marathon.”

Jaxon also wants to qualify with what many consider the most famous marathon farther down the road.

“I really want to also qualify for Boston,” he said. “You have to run a certain time. It used to be sub three hours. You have to run sub three hours. But they changed the time. For my age range, I think now it's sub 2:55. So that's even tougher than sub 3. I'm gonna do the sub 3 project and then try to qualify for Boston in the future. I'm pretty sure it won't happen next year because I don't think I'll be that fit in the next year.”

Jaxon runs most days.

“Usually, I run six days a week,” he said. “Monday, I keep it easy, just do five miles. This is my classic weekly plan during my first marathon prep. Tuesday, a six- to eight-mile tempo run at a faster than half marathon pace. And then Wednesday, I would have another easier but longer distance run, usually eight to 10 miles. Thursday was just easy day, like three to four really easy miles. Keep the legs fresh.”

Jaxon alternated speed and distance at the end of a week.

“Friday, I usually wake up at 4:30, get on the track before the football guys came on the field,” he said. “But that was always a track day. Specifically track work, speed work. And then Saturday, usually long run, slower pace but longer distance.”

Jaxon reduced distance the week before the marathon.

“The week before I really tapered down all easy runs,” he said. “The max I ran was 5 miles the week before and then 5 miles, 4 miles, 3 miles, 22 and then 26. I really tapered down heading towards the marathon and it really helped my performance I think.”

Jaxon doesn’t remember a time when he didn’t enjoy running.

“I've always been a runner,” he said. “I've enjoyed it my whole life. I've always been an athlete.”

Jaxon, a junior at Loras College in Dubuque, started his collegiate career playing Division 3 sports.

“I played basketball for two years,” he said. “I was on the basketball team, but then I decided to give it up and pursue running. And now I'm just kind of running on my own, training for marathons, creating content, posting it on Instagram mainly.”

Jaxon explained the attraction to long distance running.

“I like the act of pushing myself to bigger goals,” he said. “And marathons have always been an interest of mine. I've seen content creators do Ironmans and ultra marathons. Piqued an interest of mine and decided to give up basketball and pursue marathons. I've been really enjoying it.”

Jaxon moved on from team sports after feeling like there was no challenge left.

“In high school, I did track,” he said. “I did cross-country. I did basketball. I was all-conference in all three. I was state in 800 meter in high school. I wouldn't say I really prefer the long distance running, but just me growing up led me to that place. I've exhausted everything basketball can give me. I've been to Los Angeles, Costa Rica and Las Vegas. I met LeBron James. I've done everything that basketball can give me. I went to the college level, played on JV for two years. It wasn't really giving out what I was putting into it, so I decided to give it up and pursue just a marathon.”

Jaxon is glad he made the switch.

“It really challenges me mentally and physically and pushes me beyond my limits,” he said. “And I love challenging myself to new limits.”

Jaxon said running is a better fit for him at this point in his life.

“I'm also kind of an introvert,” he said. “I like pushing myself by myself a little bit more. There's a lot of runners all around. I can do it wherever and meet new people wherever I go. I do love basketball. It's always been my number one passion and is why I chose it to play in college. But there's kind of an ending point to sports like that unless you're really good and you can play professional basketball. I didn't think I could go any further with it and I wanted to keep challenging myself.”

Jaxon said running is a stress reliever.

“I like the mental aspect of it,” he said. “It clears my mind. I pretty much do it six days a week every morning. Gets me ready for the day. Gets me mentally prepared for everything going on the day. I'm also a college student. I work 20 hours a week. Relieves everything that's going on. I'm stressed or something hard happening in my life, gets my mind off of it.”

Jaxon said basketball had the reverse effect than running does.

“I really like it compared to basketball,” he said. “It stressed me out a ton. I had a ton of anxiety around it. Just the whole social aspect around it. There's 25 people in a gym for two hours straight. Burned me out throughout the day and throughout the season. I was always stressed out and just mentally drained. So I like running a lot better as it's stress relief instead of a stressor.”

Jaxon also works out in the gym.

“I’m usually in the gym lifting four to five days a week,” he said. “I'm probably not the classic runner. I don't do the runner runner lifts. I'm still a basketball player in the sense of lifting. I want to lift heavy, just have fun in the gym lifting-wise. I have a whole 60-day plan that I'm doing right now, more heavy weights, all muscle groups though usually full body most days.”

Jaxon said mass does impact a runner.

“In high school, I was really competitive for running,” he said. “During cross-country races, my shoulders would almost give out cause I had too much upper body strength. In my opinion, mass and strength does hinder running a little bit. But if you train running specifically and you're still in the gym, you can put on mass and still run really well. In high school, I was still a basketball player and I was still training a lot for basketball. So my mass hurt me in my running competitively, hurt my times a little bit.”

Jaxon said some runners can get away with more size.

“There definitely are a lot of runners that can run with mass though and still run really solid times,” he said.

Jaxon hopes to motivate his social media followers.

“I really want to inspire others,” he said. “I want them to look at me pushing myself every day, look at my consistency and hard work and really capture that and implement it in their own lives. I've always been the Mr. Consistency guy. I want to inspire others to stay consistent, set goals for themselves, challenge themselves every day and push their limits. With my content, I can really do that and show others you can accomplish what you want to accomplish with consistency.”

Before Jaxon started training for a marathon, his longest run was under 10 miles.

“It was a nine-mile run in cross-country high school when I was training a lot,” he said.

Jaxon said enduring a marathon isn’t easy.

“It's pretty tough, especially mile 20,” he said. “You get into a zone, mile 5 to 10 to 15, you push and push and mile by mile, you get through it. It's a mental challenge to the whole thing. Even when you're in mile 4 to 5, you're already starting to get tired. You gotta mentally talk to yourself, gotta keep going and push yourself. Your heart rate starts getting higher and higher when you get to mile 15, mile 20 and then it gets really tough from there. Start wanting to slow down, but push yourself to keep going and try to put your all out there on the course and push yourself to finish it. It's never easy, but that's why you do it, to challenge yourself and push your limits.”

Jaxon just made it to the finish line before his body gave out.

“I crossed that finish line almost limping,” he said. “It was pretty crazy. It took me about 20 to 30 minutes just to find my dad after the race. And mentally it took myself a while just to realize that I'm done with this. It was pretty hard to walk afterwards since it was my first marathon. Took me a while just to realize that this is done. Now I can finally just relax and go eat some food.”

Jaxon has been running since his pre-teen years.

“I did cross-country in sixth grade,” he said. “My dad took me running. We used to live in Georgia. I was 3 years old. We had this little one-mile running route. I don't remember it too much, but my dad used to run with me on this little one mile route we had in Georgia. That's when I really started running.”

Fitness is vital for Jaxon.

“Fitness has always been a part of my life,” he said. “Fitness overall helps your mindset with everything. Even if I wasn't training for marathons, just being in the gym, the stress reliever gets everything off your mind. I can go to school for five hours and be fully drained out of all that stuff and then go to the gym for an hour and I'm totally refreshed. It's insane how that can just happen in an hour of being in the gym or going on a 30-minute run.”

“I've developed a really good work ethic and I  always want to challenge myself.”

Jaxon said fitness provides other benefits, too.

“It also teaches you work ethic and consistency,” he said. “I've really found it to be a really rewarding experience. Just being in there every day, watching your body change can really be rewarding day in and day out.”

Jaxon said being fit helps in other areas of his life.

“Being dedicated to fitness had a huge impact on my ability to excel as the camp director of the summer coaching camps I ran this past summer,” he said. “Camps require a lot of physical energy whether it’s demonstrating drills, keeping up with kids on the court or simply being on my feet for long hours. My fitness level made all of that feel much easier and allowed me to lead by example.”  

Jaxon’s fitness and basketball exeperience aided him.

“For instance, during basketball drills, I was able to actively participate and demonstrate movements at full speed without getting winded, which kept the kids engaged and made my coaching more effective,” he said. “When it came to long days running back-to-back sessions, my endurance and strength meant I could stay energized, sharp and positive from start to finish. Even little things like rebounding for dozens of shots during shooting drills or sprinting to pick up a stray ball felt manageable because I was already accustomed to high levels of activity.”

The discipline Jaxon needed to become fitter translated into being efficient.  

“As the camp director, I was also responsible for organizing the schedule, leading staff and ensuring the camp ran smoothly,” he said. “The discipline I’ve built from fitness: waking up early for workouts, pushing through tough runs or lifts translated directly into staying organized and consistent throughout the camps. It gave me the stamina and mental focus to handle both the physical and leadership demands of the role. Fitness wasn’t just about staying in shape. It gave me the edge to show up every day and give my absolute best to the kids and the staff I was leading.”  

Despite some trepidation, Jaxon was able to start posting videos on YouTube.

“I never really thought I'd be able to do it,” he said. “Just going into the gym, setting up a camera and just recording myself has been a challenge because I'm an introvert, but I just do it. Over time, I've gotten better at it, not really caring what other people think in a way, just doing it. I know that the final product will be good and I'm doing it for others, so I know the end result will be put out there and I won't be able to think about it. Also a way to just get out of my comfort zone a little bit. I know that end product will be good and it'll inspire others.”

Jaxon stays motivated to keep running and lifting.

“I've developed a really good work ethic and I always want to challenge myself,” he said. “I've always been focused on growth and times do get tough. I wake up early a lot. I've always been focused on growth. I like finding purpose in what I do.”

Jaxon does the work even when he doesn’t feel like it.

“I like pushing myself and I know the end result is attributed to the everyday work and consistency,” he said. “I don't like missing days. I wake up not feeling motivated, but I do it anyways, knowing that if I stay consistent, that I will reach my goals.”

Jaxon also wants to motivate others.

“I also want to keep myself in check so I can inspire others to do the same, to never give up,” he said. “Even when you're not motivated, even when you're feeling bad, just do it. Doing it so you can push past the barriers and push your limits and achieve that goal that you set for yourself.”

Jaxon is taking a double major in accounting and finance.

“I'm anticipating getting my certified public accounting certificate, CPA, and go into the public accounting world,” he said. “I'm not really sure exactly what I want to do yet or pursue yet in the world of accounting, but I know I want to get my CPA degree.”

Jaxon even covers some ground in his free time.

“I go hiking a lot other than my running, just going on walks,” he said. “I like to go bowling. I like to play a lot of board games, read some books. I love David Goggins’ Can't Hurt Me. It's probably my favorite book. I read Atomic Habits. That's a good book, too.”

Jaxon dispensed advice to aspiring YouTubers.

“Just start small but dream big,” he said. “Really emphasize what you do on a day-to-day basis. Everybody's journey is different. Everybody does different things. I would say find something unique and really emphasize that and be consistent with it. You'll build your audience over time by showing what you do on a day-to-day basis. There's not many people that do YouTube consistently.”

Jaxon said content creators just need to showcase how they’re unique.

“There's not many people that run marathons to begin with, but then also recording it and sharing your journey, there's even less people. It's already unique that you're doing YouTube, so just showcasing it and being consistent you can really grow your audience over time.”

Jaxon made a chart for training.

Jaxon also dispensed advice to those wanting to start running.

“I'll say the same thing pretty much, just start small and be consistent with it,” he said. “That's pretty much all it is is being consistent, growing over time. You can accomplish great things with consistency. That's pretty much what I stress to a lot of people is consistency because that's what I've noticed in my life.”

Jaxon said anyone wanting to try marathons should work their way up to it.

“It really depends on where you're at and what your past has been like for running and athletic endeavors just in terms of fitness,” he said. “But if you haven't started running and you're interested in running a marathon, it might take you a lot longer than somebody else. I would say start small and work up. The base for marathon is mileage per week, staying fit in the gym. It's overall running strength. The first part of it is running mileage per week, strength training in the gym, and then also speed work and tempo work and combination of all those three things consistently, I think you can run a marathon.”

Jaxon stressed people can accomplish whatever they set their minds to do.

“I really want to inspire the youth, even though I'm kind of still the youth,” he said. “I really want to stress you can really do anything you want to do just by starting small and having a big dream. Start small and stay consistent and with hard work and consistency, you can really build belief in yourself and become resilient and really work toward goals that you put on yourself.”

Jaxon said running epitomizes the challenge he craves.

“Running forces the cycle of improvement, being afraid to start but doing it anyway regardless of the fear,” he said. “Finding success through consistency, but also discovering failure in our weaknesses. Failure drives us to push harder the next time and continue showing up, failing again and again. We’re never going to stop failing, but each time we choose to come back, we apply the lessons we’ve learned, building ourselves into stronger and more resilient people.”

Jaxon explained what running means to him and should for others.

“Running is not really about running,” he said. “It’s about experiencing highs and lows and teaching ourselves everything we’re capable of. Don’t set goals just for the end results. Set them for the journey and the lessons you’ll learn along the way."

Jaxon’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jaxonmcdonald1

Jaxon’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxonmcdonald/