Half the man he used to be

After losing over 100 pounds several years ago, Tom Golbeck of Crystal Lake began running and will participate in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon Oct. 12. (Sandy Bressner photo)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

Tom Golbeck traversed a vastly different path to today’s Chicago Marathon than most of the other 45,000 participants.

Many of those were hard-core from an early age, running in high school and college, then yearning for a competitive outlet after exhausting their eligibility. Others run for the pure enjoyment and fitness benefits.

Golbeck, 29, wasn’t truly bitten by the running bug until six years ago. He started running to lose weight – lots of weight – then carried that to the extreme.

Now Golbeck, a Crystal Lake resident who proudly proclaims on his Web site that he is “half the man I used to be,” is running his second consecutive Chicago race, something inconceivable in 2002.

“I was hoping originally to run a four-hour time this year,” Golbeck said, “but I hurt myself recently, and I’ve been in physical therapy to get myself through it. If I can run a 4:30, I’ll be happy with that.”

Golbeck fell into the same rut after high school that many people do. He worked full-time, went to school full-time, got married and started a family, so there was little free time for activity, and most of his meals were fast-food buys.

“It wasn’t good,” said Golbeck, whose weight swelled to near 300 pounds. “I was lucky if I could walk down the street.”

Family members dropped hints but declined to put too much pressure on Golbeck.

“They gave me a weight machine and an exercise bike,” Golbeck said, “and I’d use them once in a while, then they’d sit and collect dust or I’d store laundry on them.”

Irene Golbeck, Tom’s mother and a dietitian, could tell it was affecting her son at work – the family owns and runs Gama Electronics in Woodstock – and in his life.

“It doesn’t really work by telling someone, ‘You really need to lose some weight,’ ” Irene said. “It’s like any other problem, like alcohol or smoking, they’ll give it up when it’s time. He got to a point where he was miserable and was going to do something about it.”

That point came in 2001 when Golbeck began walking and dropped 50 pounds. He then picked up the pace and began jogging. Golbeck and his family lived in Woodstock at the time, and on one of his runs he saw a sign for the 2-mile Woodstock Challenge, which became his first race.

After that, it was on to 5K races, then 10Ks. In 2006, he started running half-marathons with his mother and sister, Jen. The three will all be running Chicago today, although not together since they prefer different paces.

“[Running] was a great way to lose weight. I just got a little more obsessed with it than I needed to,” Golbeck said with a smile.

Golbeck, a 1997 Crystal Lake Central graduate, had not run competitively since cross country and track in junior high, but his wife Michelle was not surprised with his dedication.

“I’ve known him for so long, and when he makes his mind up to do something, he does it,” said Michelle, who started dating Golbeck when he was a sophomore at Central. “It’s not an 'if' or 'maybe,' it’s a 'when' and 'how.' He’s like that with everything he does. I’m very proud of him.”

Tom and Michelle have two daughters: Kate, 10, and Emily, 6. Tom runs 2 1/2 to 4 miles every weekday morning, then goes on longer runs (5 to 10 miles) on one weekend day. Now at 155 pounds, he looks every bit the part of a distance runner.

“We enjoy the races,” Irene said. “It’s been really surprising how he’s stuck with it and how it’s changed his outlook. He’s very focused on his running and it’s carried over to his work. Once he starts projects, he finishes.”

Golbeck started a Web site, marathontom.com, on which he posts pictures, a training schedule, a personal bio and a running blog. After the marathon he will take some time to relax and heal his achy hip. He may dedicate some time to performing in musicals at the Woodstock Opera House – singing is another of his hobbies – but he will keep on running. Eventually, he would like to compete in triathlons, but it will take some serious swimming training first.

“I was always active, so I think it was a matter of time before I started doing something,” Golbeck said of his massive weight loss. “It was a matter of getting up and doing something.

“Something like that really bothers you, physically and mentally. The way I looked at it was, if I could lose the weight, it wasn’t going to bother me physically, and it’s not going to be something I’m worried about. I’m not going to have heart disease or have knee problems when I’m in my 30s. It’s a big relief off your shoulders.”

And off his waist, which presented another challenge.

“I’ve hit the full spectrum at Kohl’s,” Tom said. “I went from (a waist size size of) 42 to 30. They didn’t carry the biggest size I needed, and now they don’t carry the smallest size.”

Not that he’s complaining.

• Joe Stevenson is a sports writer for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached by e-mail at jstevenson@nwherald.com.