Alumnus Mitchell Klingler Sets His Eyes on 2020 Olympic Trials – Albionpleiad

By Staff 5 years ago

Alumnus Mitchell Klingler Sets His Eyes on 2020 Olympic Trials  Albionpleiad


Mitchell Klingler, ‘14 will compete in next year’s Olympic Trials for the marathon after achieving a qualifying time this past summer. (Photo Courtesy of Albion Athletics).

Throughout his time as an Albion Brit, Mitchell Klingler, ‘14, proved himself to be an elite runner on both the cross country and track teams. 

In 2014, he won the 5000 meter and 10000 meter races at the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association conference championships in track and field.

Following a successful collegiate running career, Klingler’s passion for the sport continued as he transitioned into becoming a marathon runner. 

“I feel [that] as the distance increases, my potential grows.” said Klingler. “I don’t have the leg speed to compete in a mile at a big stage, but I have the capability to compete at a big stage in the marathon.” 

The transition ultimately paid off. After running a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes and 19 seconds at the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn., this summer, Klingler officially qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials. 

Running a marathon is no easy feat, and Klingler explained that there are many variables that can go wrong leading up to a race. Maintaining a healthy diet, training hard and preventing sickness/injury is essential to performing well on race-day. Even with proper training, a race may still not go as planned.

“I need to run a lot of miles, eat enough to stay healthy and not get sick or injured and everything just has to go right race day. I can put in the perfect training, and still race day can go bad,” said Klingler.

Even on race-day, proper nutrition is required to complete the 26.2 miles. The shorter races that Klingler has been accustomed to throughout his running career don’t require any fueling throughout a race. However, an average marathon runner burns between 2,200 and 3,000 calories during a race.

“I have to fuel my body throughout the entire race so I don’t hit a wall and lose all of my energy,” said Klingler.

As for the upcoming Olympic Trials marathon, Klingler has no specific goal in mind.

“I want to run smart and pick off as many runners as I can the second half of the race. In the end, I just want to have fun and soak in everything,” said Klingler. “Who knows what will be in store four years from now when the next Trials will be held. I hope to enjoy the moment and not take any of it for granted.”

The 2020 Olympic Trials for the marathon will be held on Feb. 29 in Atlanta, Ga.

CORRECTION. This article, originally published Nov. 6, has been corrected from the print edition to the web edition Nov. 6 as follows:

A typo found in the print edition has been removed.