By Kelly Joy — April 2023

Photos provided by Luke Morton

To say Luke Morton explodes on to my screen as he accepts my facetime call, would be an understatement! I could tangibly feel his wonderful energy, as his open face appeared on my screen, back dropped by a sunny day in Atlanta, GA, it was like a warm glow haloed around him. Watching him talk is like bubbles floating and bursting in the air, as each new thought pops out, another appeared, raining ideas and wisdom on all who listened. It was a beautiful thing to witness.

Chatting with Luke about running and his journey has to date been one of my most wonderful interviews. He is inspiring, tenacious, bright, introspective, and gregarious, enabling a perfect mix of knowledge, an openness to learn, and respect for the sport. So where do we start, well I usually like to start at the beginning.

Once upon a time there was a young New Yorker named Luke, he is the hero of our story. Luke was then in his late twenties and weighed 330lbs. He was merely 28, when his doctor told him he was pre diabetic, and that he needed to sort this out immediately. As a former basketball and football player in his youth, life had just got in the way and here he was now on the cusp of a decision. Does he just give up, and take the diabetic pills, OR does he change?

Change lets us all remember is a hard thing to do, it is new, scary and an unknown, what we already know is the safe path, but is it the correct road to take?

Luke was brave, as all heroes are, not accepting his fate, Luke got up and started to run.

Let us remember how hard starting to run is when you have never attempted it before. Now think about how hard that must be to do when you have extra weight to carry, when you have to put on shorts and a T-shirt and go outside for the world to see. To sweat your way around in public, with all eyes watching, that is bravery, determination, and courage, and that is exactly what Luke did. He pulled on his basketball shorts, sneakers, and a tee, and feeling all self-conscious he started to slowly run around Central Park, NYC. He ran that 6-mile loop, sometimes he would have to walk, sometimes it would take him a long time, but he would do it repeatedly, driven by his own self-motivation.

Yet, the running bug had bitten. Still living in Manhattan, and a healthcare worker at Mount Sinai Hospital, Luke joins the infamous Brooklyn Track Club and The Lost Boys Track Club, who both take a broad cross section of runners. However, in reality it’s a group that is fast and fierce, and unless you keep up you will be left behind. Because, deep down runners are selfish beasts, where time is of the essence and Strava is king to all who see your work outs, if you are not fast enough you will get dropped and left to run alone behind the pack. That’s the way it is, you either accept that and get faster, or you quit. Luke pushed harder, because fast is good, slow is bad, it is a mindset that is intrinsic to running. However, Luke sets out to change this.

I could spend the rest of this piece sharing Luke’s times, races, goals, I promise we will touch on this with a running synopsis, but the thing I loved about Luke is his approach to running. It is his mental game that is fascinating.

Luke admits he is obsessed by the sport, but he approaches running as a student, he is here to educate himself. He understands that to develop, you have to be honest and mindful of your body, and its ability to perform. It is about the quality of the run, not how fast it is. As a big guy, Luke struggled to keep up with his fitter peers, but he kept going, he managed his eating and the more he ran, the less he wanted to eat. As he bedded himself down with the Brooklyn Track Club, he used it as an opportunity to gain experience, to ask questions, be inspired by all these fast and famous people, he then took to social media, to use his story to motivate others to lace up those trainers and run.

Luke is supremely honest, which I appreciated, he knows his faults, but they do not stop him from shooting for big dreams.

“I am lazy, yet I am honest with myself. If I want something, I will try to get it done. You have to be true to yourself and do the work. I ask myself; how can I get faster?”

He may say he is lazy, yet our hero has a drive and tenacity that makes me have no doubt he will reach his goal of one day qualifying for the Marathon Olympic Trials; current standard is 2:18:00 for men and a 1:03:00 for the half marathon.

“Consistency is key.”

To date Luke has run four big marathons, Chicago, NYC, Berlin, and London, with his fastest time being 4:23:00. He is now 31, married and a father of a 2-year-old girl, who likes to come along with daddy for a run in the stroller. Luke also ran a 60K ultra around Central Park, NYC when he was still carrying most of his weight. He had one pair of shoes, the race shirt, and an old pair of shorts, with grit and guts Luke finished. Can we reflect on this for a second? A beginner, heavier than average runner completes an ultra, from this alone, I know he will only continue to reach for and achieve his blue-sky goals, which is a pure mental game, I am truly impressed.

Luke moves to Georgia in 2022 to be near his family, he is currently discovering what it is like to have to train solo, and to be comfortable in his own space for training. Then in charges, upon his trusty steed his newly appointed Boulder Underground knight (coach) Marquis Bowden to help take him to the next level and provide the consistency, and mentorship that he needs.

“Marquis taught me that easy runs are actually EASY, hard runs are HARD, you do not have to push your body every time. An easy run is a run where you enjoy the run, and just moving forward.”

To help Luke with this Marquis and he have worked on some shorter races, the most recent being the Cherry Blossom 10 miler where he ran his fastest time of 80 minutes, with a staggering PR of 35 minutes from his last 10-mile race in the Bronx, when he ran it in 115 minutes.

As he continues on his quest our hero Luke is learning each day a new technique or creating an altered mindset.

“Don’t get sucked into pace.”

“Do not quit, embrace, it is ok to be yourself.”

“Running is a give and take game, if you give you will receive what you need.”

Luke is a fountain of perfect quips to aid anyone on this journey to running enlightenment. He is incredibly positive, humble, dedicated, gracious and gritty. His energy alone is a joy to be around, with his own drive, thirst for knowledge, family support, and guidance from Marquis, it would come as no surprise to me that he will one day toe the line at the marathon Olympic Trials. I am excited to watch his journey and watch him soar.

LUKE MORTON STATS

Races on Deck – Peach Tree 10K (July) / Californian International Marathon (December)
Favorite Fuel – UCAN Gels / Maurten Drink
Inspired by – His mom, who is a runner too and at the age of sixty can still tick off 6:45 minute miles. She also sems wise, his mom says, “If you point one finger out, three points back at you.” Plus, his incredibly supportive wife.
What excites you about running? – Learning, he is a student of the sport.
Shoe/s of choice – Luke is a shoe collector, so he has a pretty long list – Easy runs – Nike Pegasus, Nike Invincible Zoom X. Workouts – Nike Next %. Race – Hoka Rocket X 2 – although he has raced in a multitude of brands.
Name something no one may know about you. – “I started out as a swimmer, and I still love to swim today As, a kid I used to cry when I lost, I even once kicked my brother’s ball into the Hudson River, because he beat him at a game.”

“Running “well” cannot be achieved in ‘Microwave time!’ You cannot cook a Thanksgiving dinner in “microwave time,’ that would make it a T.V. Dinner!” - Luke Morton