The unique journey of the half-marathon man
Half marathon after half marathon will land local runner Jesse Mullet in the Guinness Book of World Records. Mullet is well on his way to finishing up 150 straight days of running a half marathon, beating the former record of 112 days, and part of the experience is recording all of his runs by recording himself.
In 2018 Jesse Mullet biked across the United States, tackling a bucket list challenge.
This time around he’s really gone for the gusto.
When Mullet completed the Amish Country Half Marathon on Saturday, Sept. 10 in Berlin, it marked his 114th straight day of running a half marathon. For those who disdain math, that equals 1,493.4 miles in 114 days. To put that in perspective, that would be like running from Millersburg to the border of Mexico in Arizona.
That is a lot of running, but that is what it takes when one is gunning to score a Guinness Book of World Records achievement.
“One night I couldn’t sleep, and I had been running a 5k a day since Sept. 1 of 2020, so I hopped on the internet and started looking up Guinness Book of World Records,” Mullet said. “I found the half-marathon record, and at 1:30 in the morning, you get some pretty weird ideas, and I figured I could go after that one, you know, get myself out of my comfort zone and ramp it up a bit.”
That night Mullet said he made the commitment, and once he does that, he focuses pretty hard.
He called Guinness, and his request to begin pursuit of that record was accepted. Mullet had to record each day where he ran and how far, even using a selfie stick to record himself running, which he did every step of the way during the AC Half Marathon.
Well, it’s kind of a selfie stick.
“It’s actually a walking stick that I cut down and rigged to fit my running style better,” he said.
Once he finishes his effort, he has to submit all of his evidence to Guinness including maps, distances, video tracking and photos. It will then be official.
How many consecutive days does Mullet have to run to surpass that mark? He already has, just one day prior to the AC Half Marathon when he beat the former world record of 112 consecutive half marathons.
Mullet started May 20, and he ran his first half at the Columbus Marathon in 2012, so it felt appropriate to finish his quest there.
While he has set a new high-water mark for runners to shoot for, Mullet has no intentions of stopping. He said he will continue to march forward day after day, running until he hits the 150-day level.
At that point he will put away his running shoes and move on to the next challenge.
“It’s been an amazing journey,” Mullet said, “learning about myself and taking this to the next level mentally and physically.”
Mullet said success only comes down to his drive and the support team he has around him. Encouragement becomes key in endeavors of this magnitude, and he said the people around him made getting up at 4 a.m. to set sail on another step in the record was instrumental.
“When you’re committed to something, you just don’t hit the snooze alarm, roll over and go back to sleep. You’ve got to push yourself forward,” Mullet said. “It takes focus and commitment, but people can do anything they want if they commit to something.”
Mullet said his faith also has been instrumental, with prayer and meditation helping him through the mental aspect of the challenge. He said studying the Bible has been a big part of his effort, and allowing himself to focus on the positives is instrumental.
Thus far there have been no major hiccups, and if things go well, he will finish his challenge at the Columbus Half Marathon later in October.
Mullet has to shoehorn his runs into the early morning hours before starting work at nuCamp RV in Sugarcreek, where his management and ownership title gives him flexible hours should he need them.
In addition, he and his wife welcomed a new baby girl four weeks ago, so he mixes in his dad duties with everything going on around the chase.
“You just figure things out,” Mullet said.
Mullet said these types of challenges drive him, but the ultimate driver is he is able to inspire other people to set goals and follow through by making commitments to what is important to them.
“Evoking positive change is my life’s mission,” Mullet said. “My hope is to encourage people to get outside of their comfort zone and push themselves to be the best version of themselves that they can be. That is the underlying focus. It’s not about me; it’s about other people. It’s like a ripple effect in a pond.”
He said his trek has allowed him to meet many people including a woman from Wales, United Kingdom who is pursuing the same 150-day record he is.
“We met and didn’t even know each other were doing it,” Mullet said.
The trek may be long, the work may be difficult, but for Jesse Mullet, the focus, the challenge, the hard work and the commitment make each step along the way worthwhile.