Interview Tuesday: Meet Kentucky and Masters Runner Ty Martin

2017 Yamacraw 50k

This week I talk to Ty Martin who I have known probably as long as anyone since we moved to Kentucky about 7 years ago.  He also lives in my neck of the woods in rural South-Central KY.  I do not get to run with Ty too often but do enjoy seeing him at races and nice to see his progression since I met him when we moved here as he was not running when we first met.


Tell us a little about yourself not necessarily related to running: age, where born, education, area you live in, etc….. 
I’m 43 I was born and raised in central Wisconsin . My family moved to Pennsylvania in 1992 I met my wife there . We have 6 children and we moved to Liberty Ky 10 years ago. I have a high school education never went to college.

What is your profession? 
For the past 20 plus years I have owned my own business selling and installing overhead doors and operators. Started in Pennsylvania sold that business to one of my employees when I moved to Kentucky . After a short break ended up doing the same thing down here.

How did you start running and what prompted you to do so? 
One of my boys signed up for a 5k and I went along to watch.  After that I decided if he could run three mile I could too so I signed up for a 5k that was coming up in one month. Thought I was going to die but I finished it .  When I started it was mostly just because I’m competitive ,but after a few weeks I realized I actually enjoyed just going for a run.

How long have you been running? 
It will be three years in March of this year.

Did you participate in any other sports over the years?
I played in a softball league in my late teens and twenties.

Did you run in grade school, High School or College?
I went to a small private school so while I did play some sports for physical education it wasn’t really organized

2016 Brickhouse Half Marathon (Stanford, KY) with son Cole

So we get an idea of where you have been with running can you share your PR’s for: 5K, 10K marathon and any other distance you may have run in the past.

• 5k  - 20:29  
• Half Marathon  - 1:49 
• Marathon  - 4:08   
• 50K -  6:51  
• 50 miles  -11:35\

What got you interested in running Ultras?
I happened on the website for Yamacraw trail races and after seeing all the pictures and reading about it I decided I had to do it. Signed up and ran the 50K at that point my longest race had been a half marathon.  Needless to say it was a few days before I walked normally but I was hooked on trail running.

What is your most memorable race or races and share a little about at least one of them?
Probably Yamacraw 50K Because it was my first ultra . I highly recommend this race It has beautiful scenery and is very well run. Chattanooga 50 miler was also memorable probably because of the rain and mud. I was slow but it was a huge sense of accomplishment to finish.

Do you have a favorite workout you do?
Hill repeats not so much while I’m doing them but the feeling after you’ve worked that hard is great.

What does a regular week of training look like? 
It varies but most weeks 20-30 miles more if I’m training for something longer

How about a favorite route you like to run?
I like the trails at Pulaski county park and also any part of the Yamacraw 50K route in Stearns Ky

What is your favorite distance to run and race?
I’m not sure if I have a favorite I enjoy them all.

What shoes do you run in and what do you like about them?

2016 Brickhouse Half-Marathon (Stanford, KY) with Kelsey and Cole

I run in Altra shoes I like the wide toe box and zero drop .

How about diet, do you eat any certain way and do things change on race week and race day?
I try to eat a higher fat and low carb diet . I feel better physically when I stay away from the sugar and processed foods.

Do you have any long-range plans?
I want to complete a 100 mile race at some point also would like to get faster at the 5K distance. Other than that just want to stay healthy and hopefully be able to do this as long as I can.

What do you like best about living and running in KY?
I like the country life and the friendly people . Kentucky has some great public land to run and hike

Anywhere else you would like to visit to run?
I would like to do some running out west sometime.

Do you have any bucket list races?
Hyner 50K and possibly Eastern states some day .Both races in Pennsylvania in some beautiful rugged country.

What do you struggle with most with regards to running?
Finding time to fit it in with family and work.

What do you see as a trend in running?
I’m pretty new to running so hard to say .It does seem that ultrarunning is becoming more popular.

If you had one, well maybe two or three, things to say those that are running to encourage them what would it be?
 Make time to get out and do it . Sometimes it’s hard to get started but a good workout does a lot for you physically and mentally

********You can see past interviews here********