Former Marine Looks Ahead to 100-Mile Run at End of May

Patch first spoke with Dan Neilsen at the end of March about a bold endeavor he and his fellow former Marines were undertaking to remember 23 fallen men of Ohio's Lima Company, part of 3rd Battalion of the 25th Marine Regiment, and to support the children they left behind: they would run 100 miles from Mariemont, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio in under 24 hours.

As the run is set for Saturday, May 26, we thought it was a good time to see how his training was progressing. Neilsen, who is a lawyer by profession, is a busy man who also does pro bono work in support of veterans issues while putting in all the family time he can with his wife and three children.

It's not unexpected that he's not able to get in the kind of training he'd like to prepare for his run in less than a month, but he's working with trainer Brandon Love at Thrive Community Fitness in Maple Valley to simulate the conditions of a 100-mile run as much as possible.

Love, a 2009 graduate of Enumclaw High School, says it's fun to train with Neilsen as every day is different but that he always gives it his all when he's at the gym. He's no doubt that Neilsen will finish the 100 miles in under 24 hours; Neilsen's last attempt at the distance ended at 85 miles.

What was he doing running that in the first place?

In 2005, a friend and fellow Marine that Neilsen had served with years ago was killed in Iraq. Though they had lost touch over the years, the men who served with Capt. Tyler B. Swisher wanted to honor his memory and decided a 100-mile run from Thurmont, Md., to Arlington National Cemetery where Swisher's grave site is located would be an appropriate tribute.

Only one person completed the full 100 miles then -- Neilsen covered an admirable 85 miles -- but the experience and the money they raised to support Swisher's three children, proved to be a profound experience for the men and they decided they wanted to do it again through their newly formed organization, Always Brothers.

On May 26, they will be running for Lima Company, which has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the hardest hit units to serve in Iraq; 22 Marines and one Navy Corpman were killed, also in 2005.

As Swisher was from Ohio, the connection to Lima Company was all the more poignant.

Click the video to check out Neilsen's recent session with Love while he talks more about Always Brothers and why he's running 100 miles when he freely admits he is not a runner.