Mel Martin is Ripon’s own “Marathon Man.”

Given the moniker from co-workers, Martin has the record to back it up: he has competed in, and finished, 82 marathons since 1998.

And he’s about to run No. 83 this weekend.

But long-distance running wasn’t always a passion for the 50-year-old Ripon resident. 

A short-distance track runner at Ripon High School, he wasn’t exposed to the world of the marathon until being invited to compete in the Fox Cities Relay Marathon with co-workers at his then-employer, Alliance Laundry (he currently is the office manager at Moderow Electric).  

Arlynn Sanders organized the Alliance relay team, and Martin credits Sanders for turning him into the running fanatic he is today.

Since his first marathon experience, Martin has become more and more involved in running the events.

“It got to be one a year, then two a year — then it took off and kept doubling for a while,” Martin says. 

In recent years he has been adding to the total with 14 marathons run last year, and 10 already completed this year. 

Read the full story in the July 8, 2010 edition of the Ripon Commonwealth Press.