Colin Mickow’s journey to the starting line of the 2022 World Athletics Championships marathon has been unconventional; he wasn’t a superstar athlete in college at the University of Illinois, and then took a six-year layoff from competitive running upon graduation to focus on a career outside of athletics. Now, a 31-year-old Mickow has returned to the sport and in only three years his star has risen to the point that he is one of the very best marathoners the U.S. has to offer. With a 15th place finish at the Olympic Marathon Trials, a sixth-place finish at the 2021 Chicago Marathon, and enters the Oregon22 World Championships as the most unlikely fixture in American distance running in some time. Mickow was a self-admitted unspectacular runner in college, with competitive but non-elite times of 14:08 in the 5000m and 29:10, Mickow’s NCAA career did not indicate a future as one of the best marathoners in the United States. In May of 2012, Mickow graduated from Illinois and decided to leave competitive running behind, instead pursuing a career as a financial analyst; but in the back of his mind, Mickow knew that he had untapped potential on the roads. “In college, the most we ever run is 6.2 miles. At the time, I’d always thought, ‘I’d probably be better if I ran those longer races on the roads.’” Mickow said. “I have an identical twin brother and we would rip up those long tempos and run so much faster than we should have been able to do based on our track times. But in college, 10k is the most you’ll ever get the chance to do.” After six years of balancing light running and lifting Mickow decided to run a half marathon near his house, and after an encouraging result continued ramping up his mileage in preparation for his marathon debut. Once he made his return to regular training, Mickow continued upping his mileage and found the transition felt far more natural than the collegiate training ever did. “Like I said, I always thought I could be really good at longer races, so I always wanted to do that. I eventually started running more than lifting, and then I started running more and more and eventually stopped lifting as much. I wasn’t really seriously training, but I slowly made my way back into racing. I did no speed work; I was just running 120 or 130 [miles] a week pretty easy and then I’d speed up at the end of my long run.” Mickow’s first marathon was a rousing success, running 2:14:55 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon to easily qualify for the 2020 Olympic Trials. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of success and great races highlighted by a 15th-place finish at the Trials and a world-class 1:01:47 half marathon at Houston. After the sixth-place finish at the 2021 Chicago Marathon, Mickow now enters Oregon22 as one of the most intriguing athletes in the field - a 32-year-old relative newcomer to the discipline with unknown potential and a whole career outside of the sport that most of his competitors treat as their full-time job. Perhaps the most incredible thing about Mickow is the amount that he juggles while training. He runs over 130 miles every week with a 26 mile long run every weekend, works full-time as a financial advisor, and just had his first child - a son named Finn - with his wife Melissa earlier this year. How is it possible to balance so many different things? Sacrifices and family are the pillars that Mickow relies on. “Well, I don't watch a lot of TV - there certainly isn’t a lot of down time! Sleep is largely where I’ll cut some time out, six hours is a good night for me during the week. On the weekends, seven or eight feels like plenty.” Mickow remarked. “Beyond that, my wife is the reason that I can do so many things at once, she takes care of my son and holds everything together while I’m out working or running. She’s been so great.” Colin and his wife Melissa met while they were teammates at the University of Illinois, and upon their graduation moved on from competitive running together and moved to Chicago. With a background in competitive running, Melissa supports her husband and has both knowledge and experience with the things that he goes through during training. “We both kind of stopped running after college together. She’s very supportive of me and my training and comes to all of my races - literally every race. Even when she was pregnant, she was running all across the course to see me as many times as she could.” Colin recalled with an affectionate laugh “She understands what it’s like being a distance runner and sympathizes with me if I have soreness or something, and that’s nice too.” Mickow may very well be the only marathoner on the starting line of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 that balances his burgeoning running career with a separate, full-time career. When you add a newborn son, it becomes hard to picture how he finds the time to train and recover like most of his contemporaries. Colin Mickow wouldn’t have it any other way. A full list of results can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF. Written by Adam Cortez