BRUNSWICK, Ohio — Alex Nolen, 30, spends a lot of time on the nature trails of Brunswick, running and training for his next race.
His health and fitness journey started about a year and a half ago; he says he was out of shape and looking to make a lifestyle change.
"I was very overweight and for little people with dwarfism, like, we don't document it a lot, but I feel like, being obese is un unhealthy in general, but being shorter, like my knees are shorter than the average person. So like, physics wise, like it probably can't support that much weight," Alex told us. "An American diet on a little person's body is detrimental. So, yeah, I wanted to get rid of that."
Alex hit the road, even knowing his particular journey wouldn't come easily.
"And I tell people, too, like, running still stinks. So like, after the first mile, I always ask myself during a race, 'Why am I doing this?'" Alex said through a chuckle.
Soon, he'd know the answer.
"I saw a man named John Young's story about how he was the fourth little person to ever run a marathon," Alex said.
He had a thought: Why couldn't he be the fifth?
"So last year I did my first 5Ks and I did good. So then I kept doing 'em. Then I jumped up to 10K," he told us.
When Alex is running, sometimes he is his own cheerleader.
"I just yell, 'Come on, come on, you can do this!' And then I'll do that out loud. And then other people will start yelling with me," Alex said.
This Saturday, Alex will race in the Akron Marathon Series 10K. Then after that? The sky is the limit.
"Even if you do one mile a day at one mile per hour, that's still distance. You're still training your heart and your body and the body is so strong no matter what," Alex said.
Alex tells us he plans to run his first ever half marathon in October. Then, he'll train for a full marathon, which he plans to compete in next fall in Akron.
For more information on the Akron Marathon Race Series, click HERE.
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