Spartanburg personal trainer motivates clients with Boston Marathon, 'bloody toe' stories

Dozens of colorful medals from marathons, half-marathons, 10ks, 5ks and trail runs hang on hooks on the walls of personal trainer Justin Rollin’s office at the Spartanburg Athletic Club.

Two other items on his walls are reminders to keep pushing ahead, to stay motivated and to never give up.

One memento is a blood-stained White Nike Alphafly shoe from the Boston Marathon in 2021. The other is a 20-inch-by-30-inch photograph of Rollins running in the Boston Marathon four months later in 2022.

In January, when making New Year’s resolutions to get fit is the norm, Rollins is sharing his own story of how he stays motivated and shares that motivation with the clients of his new business, All Elite Training, which customizes exercise programs for all ages and fitness levels.

Going to the gym in 2024? New Year's Resolution: 'That first step is the hardest one.'

“That's the “most famous left turn -- Boylston,” Rollins said of the Boston Marathon photograph in his office. “They always say, ‘left on Boylston’ and that’s when you know you are almost there.” Boylston is a well-known street in Boston near the finish line.

The finish line was about half a mile away in that photo.

“At the time I was thinking, ‘This is my last marathon.’ I was already at a point where I was burned out on running. That’s a bit of mixed emotion in that picture. I’m relieved it’s all over. I’m exhausted.”

The Boston Marathon is the pinnacle for elite runners. “It’s the only one that you have to qualify for,” he said. “Boston is the only one you must have certain time goals for each age division.” Rollins also liked that he was running with “high-caliber runners” in the Boston Marathon.

Rollins said in that photo, “In a way, I’m sad. I’m not going to be doing this again.

“I’m just burned out in this photo from doing 4,000 miles (about 6437.38 km) a year when COVID hit. And at that point, I’m thinking ‘What am I going to do next?’ This is the last half-mile and marathons for me.”

Despite those feelings, Rollins said once he crossed the finish line “the rush of the crowd was very validating.

“To go and have a race where I didn’t get hurt. I felt good about ending on a high note.”

Rollins is proud of the fact that he also has never been injured in his 20-plus years of running. “To have a whole career with marathons and have not one injury. I made it. I did what I set out to do.”

Up to that point, he said, he had been pushing his body to the limit, running 4,000 miles (about 6437.38 km) a year, 120 miles a week.

The toe incident at the Boston Marathon

Rollins’ first experience with the Boston Marathon was memorable and worthy of its place on his office wall.

“I was lucky enough to make that one,” he said about the Boston Marathon in October with the limited number of participants because of COVID. “I was in great shape. I felt good about that race.”

But something happened at mile 12. Rollins had 14 miles to go which he described as being the equivalent of “four more towns to get through,” when he felt a throbbing pain coming from his right foot.

“My foot just starts killing me,” he said.

The pain was constant and started slowing him down. “I'm thinking I'm going to have to stop. I knew it had to be my toenail.”

Rollins looked down and “blood was just coming out of (his) shoe.”

He said he “bled through New England.” At Boston College, someone even remarked, “Is that blood coming from his shoe?”

His times were increasingly getting worse and worse. Despite the pain and blood, he kept running and he finished the race.

When he got to the medic’s tent, a group of doctors sat him in a wheelchair and they said, ‘Well the good news is you're not going to lose your toes.’ And I was like ‘Was that even an option?”

Two toenails had become dislodged during the race and were “flattened like carvings” but they would never come off and were stabbing his toes “going back and forth.” That would explain the excruciating pain and the blood gushing from his shoe.

“Both toes were a bloody mess,” he said.

A couple of years later, the blood stains are still visible on the shoe on a pedestal on his office wall.

“So that was my first Boston experience. That's why I went back just a few months later to do this race,” he said pointing back to the photograph.

“I was still burned out” from the October (race) from all the training. “And then here we are doing one that I probably should have sat out,” he said.

Rollins said he never thought of washing the shoe since the shoe symbolizes that “you keep going no matter what.”

“If it was a point where it had me to my knees... It was painful but I kind of know my threshold limits and I kind of just blocked that out,” he said explaining his race strategy.

“Heartbreak Hill was literally Heartbreak Hill for me,” he said. “By the time I got to mile 18 and beyond, it was just horrible. Every single step.”

Rollins said he had conditioned himself for worst-case scenarios – training on the hottest times of the day and running the worst hills. “I overtrain for the races,” he said. “My hard training set me up for it.”

The excruciating pain, the blood coming from his shoe, and he kept on running.

What kept him going?

“The finish line,” he said, explaining that he had been training for this moment for 20-plus years.

“I had to finish,” he said. “If I had to crawl, I was going to keep going.”

And the shoe on the wall symbolizes, “Don’t ever stop.”

Boston Marathon in 2025

In retrospect, Rollins looked at the photograph and said, “That was almost vindication to go back and have a healthy left turn at Boylston.”

Fast forward to 2024 and Rollins has a new mindset and a new goal: To compete in the 2025 Boston Marathon and bring his three children along so they can experience it with him.

He will work to get his qualifying time this year. “If I get a decent enough time, I go back to Boston next year in 2025 and take my kids and that’s where I go out with a whole new experience,” he said. “I feel like I’ve got a little more unfinished business. I thought it was the end. But after being away from it, I still feel like there’s a little bit more left in the tank.”

Rollins, who said he’s been feeling good on his runs and is in a good headspace now, can be found most days adding to his miles at the Mary Black Rail Trail, Cottonwood Trail or River Birch Trail.

“I feel like I’ve worked my whole life to do this Boston system,” he said.

And with that kind of mindset, there will most likely be another photograph, another medal and most likely another pair of shoes.

“I'm in a good headspace now, to just go and relax and enjoy the moment,” he said.

Rollins is the owner of All Elite Training, which specializes in personal training and strength coaching. Go to www.allelitetrainingbyjustinrollins.com for more information.

Writer Jose Franco can be reached at jose.franco@shj.com

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Spartanburg personal trainer motivates with Boston Marathon experience