27 Feb Meet the Team: Mark Magyar
Life Outside Sport
How did growing up in your family shape your approach to athletics and competition?
Me and my older sisters liked playing team sports. None of us were very good! I played golf, basketball and baseball in high school. My sisters played mostly softball. Although we were not all that talented and very far from the best on our teams, sports was a pretty constant presence in our home. By about the age of 9 I was in love with all detroit sports. I would make signs of Pistons Bad Boys from constructive paper and tape them to my bedroom walls. My dad would take us to Lions and Pistons games in Detroit. It was only into adulthood that I got more into individualized training rather than team sports, like lifting weights and, eventually, running.
Who’s your biggest supporter in your training journey? How do they help keep you going?
Oooh, this is a tough one. I am blessed with a lot of supporters – family, teammates, friends, etc. My wife, Tammy, is a teammate who runs, so she is very supportive because she gets it. The kids all support me and come to races to cheer me on and are old enough that they are doing their own running now. Our teammates are a constant source of support and training buddies. Andrew Buikema from our team has, without a doubt, been there the most for me on my training journey, including through a lot of life stuff along the way!
What traditions or activities do you enjoy with your family when you’re not training?
Tammy and I have five kids between the two of us. We like to stay very busy doing things with them. We take vacations, go to trampoline parks, go to the Y, go to water parks, go to parades and other community events, watch movies, play board games, play games and sports outside in the yard, go to parks, attend the kids’ sporting and school events, etc, etc.
Balancing Act
How do you involve your family in your training/racing life? Do they join you for any workouts or races?
The family is very involved! Tammy runs her own races and travels with me for my races. The kids run their own races. I ran my daughter’s first 5k with her as part of Girls on the Run. My daughter and son both participated in Run for the Hills through Forest Hills School District last year. All four of the littler kids enjoy doing kids’ runs like the mini Turkey Trot and the GR Marathon kids’ marathon. Recently, they all volunteered with us handing out water at Aid Station #1 at the 2024 Resolution Run around Reed’s Lake and they LOVED doing it – all of them talked about wanting to do it again soon. The kids thought it was VERY cool that their dad (me) was “the Turkey” for a few years in a row at the GR Turkey Trot and we had a lot of fun with that (including breaking the costume out of my trunk one year to surprise a house full of kids/relatives for our thanksgiving party). I also ran a mini trot with daughter one year in full Tom the Turkey costume in the parking lot of Calvin on the day before the trot because she was going to be with her mom out of town on thanksgiving and would not be able to do the real trot but didn’t want to miss running with dad in the costume!
What’s your strategy for balancing early morning workouts with family time?
Since my kids are only with me half of the time and with their mom the other half, I make sure that I never go to running groups on the days they are with me. Instead, I get up early and run while they are sleeping or at other times if they are occupied with something else to not take away too much of our time together. For example, today (Saturday, 2/8/25), I had a 22 mile run to do, so I started it from home at 5:30am and was home by about 8:45am, after they had only been awake for a little while and we still had the whole day. That is a pretty common Saturday schedule when the kids are with me. Then I use the weekends when they are with their mom to meet up with teammates or RunGR or STC or community runs at the Y.
Have any of your family members caught the endurance sports bug from you?
Yes! As mentioned, my 10-year old daughter has already run a 5k and participated in Girls on the Run and Run for the Hills. My son ran a sub 8 min mile as a 7 year old on his first try at the track meet for Run for the Hills and plans to do Run for the Hills again this year. Tammy has always been big into physical fitness, but I think our relationship caused her to start running more and she completed her first full marathon at the GR Marathon (2022) and met her goals of sub 4 hrs and sub 9 min pace on her first try!
Personal Growth
How has being an endurance athlete influenced your role as a parent/spouse/family member?
I am not sure how it has really influenced my role but I hope it has set a good example for doing hard things and having a healthy lifestyle and persevering.
What life lessons from endurance sports do you try to pass on to your kids or loved ones?
Same as above.
What’s a memorable moment where your family was there to support you during a race?
Easy – September 2017 – running the GR Last Chance BQ Marathon to achieve a time that got me into my first Boston in 2018, and being surprised by daughter (then 3 years old) and son (then 7 months old) come out to support with their mom, and having great pictures of hugs from my daughter right after the finish.
Career & Training
How do you balance your professional life with training?
Basically a lot of early mornings or fitting runs in at odd times. I am fortunate that I have a lot of flexibility in making my own schedule as long as I do my work whenever I do it. Also, I do basically nothing else besides work, family, and run (maybe a little cross training, too, but not near as much as I should!)
Has your athletic journey influenced your career choices or work style?
It hasn’t really – I was already a lawyer doing what I still do before I found running, now I just find the time to add in my hobbies. I have definitely developed a MUCH healthier overall lifestyle, including giving up all vices in the last 5+ years.
What’s your typical day like juggling work, family, and training?
Early morning run, drop kids at school, work all day, pick kids up, evening routine, early bedtime – rinse and repeat! Not very exciting, it may sound, but the time with the kids is precious and goes too fast, and the payoff of all the training is the opportunity to participate in really cool races all over the World and be invited or qualify based on time standards to do really cool things like the Abbott Age Group World Champions, the Boston Marathon, all the Major Marathons, pace for River Bank and Bayshore, etc etc!
Fun Facts
What’s your family’s reaction to your race-day nutrition choices?
No real reaction per se, but even before race day I usually diet, calorie count and do intermittent fasting to try to be as lean as possible on race day, so they are very exposed to those efforts and it is probably very annoying! Hahah. Especially come evening when we want to go out to eat or they want to share their treats and then say, “oh wait, you’re probably fasting, aren’t you” lol.
Who’s the designated race photographer in your family?
Oooh, not in my family but probably Laura Caprara!!!
What’s the most creative way you’ve included your family in your training?
They were the creative ones. We all went to Chicago for the 2023 marathon and Blue Man Group the day before the race. They had the best signs to greet me at the mile 25 marker by the hotel, and I ran by and gave them high fives (almost causing a hamstring spasm when I went to get back into the race!)