Bedford Runner Ian Marling to Compete in Monday’s Boston Marathon

As he prepares to compete in the Boston Marathon on April 18, Ian Marling of Bedford is certain of one thing: “I’m going to have fun.”

This will be Marling’s third official marathon. He says he has been running at “a pretty high level” since elementary school.

That assessment comes with an asterisk. A giant one.

In January of 1999, after years of what he thought were migraines, Marling was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was 11 years old.

An MRI found “a really scary combination,” Marling related: The growth was pressing against his brain stem in the cerebellum, and the imaging also confirmed hemorrhaging.

After surgery, “it was a hard and lengthy and complete recovery,” Marling  said, adding, “not everyone is so fortunate.” As a youngster, he would run long distances and bike up to 100 miles a day. Now he had to relearn how to walk across a room or on stairs. It took about three years to regain strength, stamina, and coordination, he said.

Now Marling is encouraging awareness of and donations to the National Brain Tumor Society to mark his participation in the venerable Boston event. His goal is $10,000. Click this link to learn more about Ian’s goal.

By the time he got to Bedford High School, Marling was running cross-country and track and became a serious musician. After graduation in 2005, he matriculated at Boston College.

“It was a hard process, and for me, the act of running a marathon is a really great metaphor for that recovery period,” Marling observed.  “You just start, and hope for the best, knowing there will be ups and downs and challenges that you don’t know. You put one foot in front of the other and keep a positive attitude.”

Marling’s first marathon marked the 20^th anniversary of his brain surgery. His second, in October 2019, was good enough to qualify for Boston.

“This is a celebration of the process of training and preparation,” Marling proclaimed. “I really enjoy the process.”

Professionally, Marling coaches “endurance athletes — runners and cyclists, from recreational to highly-competitive levels, all across the continent.”

There are the physical aspects of endurance, but Marling also emphasizes the psychological considerations. “I’m able to bring my experience to support their journey, wherever they are trying to go,” including goal-setting, and “helping endurance athletes overcome their nerves.”

Part of Marling’s repertoire is “mindfulness strategies,” not just when racing but also in training. It can be challenging to run three or four hours a day just to prepare for a race, he acknowledged.

“The beauty of running is to let everything else rest. It is physically demanding, but when people are able to buy into that, it’s not a chore, not an onerous activity. I want everyone to have joy in the activity of exercise – joy and passion blossom into a lifelong pursuit,” Marling remarked.

“I really encourage distance runners to break away from listening to podcast or music, and connect to the world around us,” he said. “I encourage them to be aware, to just be in the moment.

Marling said he also has worked with the National Brain Tumor Society charity marathon runners, including a team competing in the New York City Marathon, to bring mindfulness strategies to their performance.

“I’m always looking for new opportunities to engage with these groups,” he said, as well as coaching high-school cross-country teams.

Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763