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Mark Cagle and his wife Brandi were standing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon last July while in town to celebrate their first wedding anniversary when the thought of competing in it popped into his head.

In April of next year, he will be standing at the starting line with 34,000 other runners waiting to compete in the most famous 26.2 mile race in the world.

Cagle, 55, met the qualifying standard for the 2025 race recently in Wilmington, where he finished in three hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds, almost 20 minutes ahead of the time he needed.

“It’s been a goal for a while now, so it was really cool to accomplish it,” Cagle said. “There were 1,000 runners in Wilmington and I had been battled some knee and hip pain, so I didn’t know how I would feel. It was really fun to be out there with all the other runners and people were cheering for us and holding signs. I tell people that training is the real marathon and the race is the celebration.”

Cagle assists Brandi with the Terra Ceia Christian School cross country team and was the long-time track and cross country coach at Riverside HS in Williamston and at Farmville Central before that. His encouragement led Brandi to complete the Wilmington marathon, her second, in a personal record time.

“She did great and I’m really proud of her, “Cagle said. “She had more confidence than I did that I would get the qualifying time, so she’s helped me a lot as well.”

Cagle was a distance runner at J.H. Rose HS (Greenville) and stayed with it for many years, took some time off, then got back into it seriously in 2017.

He varies his training routines and locations to keep things interesting and runs for 10 straight days at various distances, takes two days off, then starts the cycle again.

“I do one two to three hour run during each cycle while keeping track of my speed per mile and heart rate, “he said. “I’ll run the hills by the river in Williamston and in the graveyard in Washington. If it’s a 10-mile day, I’ll vary my pace and work in some sprints for a minute or so. I also do cross-training with my F3 group with plyometrics, jumps, weights and kettle bells.”

In his younger days, Cagle completed eight ultra-marathons of over 100 miles, so 26.2 should seem like a walk in the park.

“It’s not, but I detest complacency and anybody can do this if they put their mind to it,” he said. “I think the secret to success is hidden in the daily routine and you develop the discipline to keep going by pushing through fatigue and extending your physical boundaries. Knowing there is always somebody out there who is faster is what keeps me going.”