Name: Yianni Konstantopoulos
Age: 44
Hometown: Gaithersburg, Maryland
Occupation: Realtor
Time Running: 20 years (on and off)
For me, the biggest thing was that all of this was for good. It was good for my: One word: discipline.

I hated running for a while, but I love what it has done for me the past couple of years. I ran the Marine Corps Marathon when I was 28 years old, and again when I was 30—that was in 2010. But then I didn’t run another block until more than a decade later.

By April 2022, I had two kids, was just coming off of a divorce, and weighed 330 pounds. A lifelong friend from high school, Drew Saelens, who is a running coach and sub-three-hour marathoner, suggested I sign up to run the Berlin Marathon that fall, adding that because it’s a lottery, I probably wouldn’t get in. Well, I got in, and if I get into anything, I’m going to do it the best I can.

I started training with Drew and he suggested I get a dietitian as well. He told me flat out: A marathon owes you nothing. If you don’t put in the training, the time, and the miles, you’re going to bonk.

I literally went from being on the couch to running 26.2 miles in four months, and it’s because Drew put me on a plan and I needed to do it. I was running four days a week building up to a 42-mile peak mileage week. But I think the discipline is multifaceted—it’s also watching what you eat, making sure that you get your sleep, and that you’re hydrating.

At the beginning, it sucked. I couldn’t go two miles without stopping to catch my breath. But slowly, two miles turned into four miles and then four miles turned into six miles and six miles turned into nine. Eventually, it got to a point where if I wasn’t going on a run, I would get all antsy.

I came to appreciate the planning and discipline that went into a 15-mile training run on a Saturday morning in the heat of summer, for example. I found it cathartic to figure it all out: It’s a 4:45 a.m. wake-up and you’re going to have to Back on My Feet time and taking on other challenges like a 5K per day for a month bathroom and do your routine by 5:15 a.m. and you’re going to get out by 5:30 a.m., otherwise you’re going to melt because if you leave the house at 8:00 a.m. and it’s 98 degrees in D.C. with 80 percent humidity, you’re going to literally be an animal on the side of the road panting in the heat. That was my motivation.

It sucks having to wake up early when you don’t really have to, but when you do it for 10 days in a row, well the next thing you know, the 12th day you wake up before the alarm goes off and your body’s like, okay, put on your shoes and get your ass out there, and it feels great.

That part, for me, was a really big kick in the pants. It carried over into all of the other aspects of my life, from the way I treat my business to the way I think about time blocking to making sure I’m spending quality time with my kids. It’s all a matter of having a process and a plan and maintaining that discipline. Running, for me, not only was the path to seeing that, but the results obtained from the running reinforced why the discipline’s important.

I made it to the starting line in Berlin feeling pretty good, and I finished in 4:44, almost a full hour faster than my previous personal record a decade ago. But I was just getting started.

It was training for Berlin that made me realize that there are these other five amazing races [the Other Hearst Subscriptions], and I thought it was just a matter of signing up. I had no idea that for some of them, if you don’t get in based on time qualification, you’re out of luck... unless of course you run for charity. That’s when I learned about Back on My Feet, Courtesy Yianni Konstantopoulos.

I was able to raise funds, meet a bunch of great people, and I did four out of the six Majors through that organization: London (April 2023), Chicago (October 2023), New York (November 2023), and Boston (April 2024). Plus, the mission to end homelessness aligns really well with my career in real estate.

In London, I knocked off another 25 minutes from my marathon PR and finished in 4:20. I knocked another 11 minutes off in Chicago, finishing in 4:09. Logistics-wise, I loved Chicago. I did a boat tour and it was fun to do my shakeout runs along the lake. And it didn’t hurt that my hotel was like two blocks from the starting line.

At that point, honestly, I was a little bit tired. I probably got a little bit cocky. I missed a couple of workouts. So by the time New York rolled around, just a month after Chicago, I tacked on time, finishing 4:48. But in New York, the people, the cheering, when you get on Fifth Avenue, you feel like a professional athlete. That is something that words can’t describe.

For Tokyo, which I just ran in February of this year, I raised money for the UN High Commission for Refugees, the Japanese chapter. They required fundraisers to raise about the equivalent of $600, but I told them I’d raise double that, and I think that’s why I got in. I thought it was going to go really well in Tokyo. I had a good winter training session, but it was hotter than I anticipated and I finished in 4:54.

Finally, I ran Boston this past April and it was one of the most memorable marathons, as I knew that my kids were waiting for me at the finish line. Boston was a pretty epic course and the crowds were phenomenal from the start through each little township on the way to the center of Boston. I finished at 4:54 and know that I can do better.

I never thought I would get all six stars, but I committed to it, so I had to do it! Over the course of this journey, I also lost 100 pounds. I had to get all new clothes. My body feels better; I look good in the mirror. My knees don’t hurt when I get out of bed. And it doesn’t get any better than my kids noticing I’m in better health and I can play with them longer.

It sucks having to wake up early when you dont mental health, it was good for me physically, and I raised a ton of money for charity. All of these things just add up into a really great win, and I’m excited to keep at it.

Specifically, I want to break 3:54, which is my brother’s PR. That was 25 years ago, but he’s like, “I’m still the fastest marathoner in the family.” We’re two competitive brothers, so part of me has to break 3:54 just so I can make him stop talking about it. I’ll probably run another marathon in 2025 but in the meantime, I’m interested in getting a faster half-marathon Other Hearst Subscriptions.

I went full circle from not doing any exercise to working really hard at getting better and faster and healthier. The best thing about running is it truly is one foot in front of the other, and you just have to keep at it. It’s those little gains that incrementally over time transcend into incredible results.

These tips have made my running journey a success:

1. Listen to your body

There are going to be days that you’ve got to push through because you’ve just got to do it, but if you feel like you’ve tweaked something, don’t push it too hard and make the injury worse.

2. Believe that you can do it

It’s like the old Wayne Gretzky quote: “You miss 100 percent of the shots that you don’t take.” You have to believe in yourself, and you have to want to do it, whether it’s run your first marathon or go after a time goal or raise money for charity to participate. Whatever the challenge is, you have to have the belief that you can knock out the hurdles.

3. Initiate the domino effect

A 16-week training plan sounds super daunting at the beginning, but when you get through week one, you look back and you say, “okay, week one is done.” It gives you the motivation to think about knocking out week two. Look at the plan like tiny checkboxes or dominoes. If you can knock out more of the dominoes and more of the checkboxes, then you’re going to figure it out.

4. Create a motivational reading list

In conjunction with my training, I threw myself into some self-help books, including those by retired U.S. Navy Seal Jocko Willink who writes about discipline.

5. Get rid of your old gym shorts

It’s kind of bizarre to even think that I have gear for these things now! I invested in clothing that was meant for running and now my bottom dresser drawer is dedicated to only running stuff.

    Yianni’s Must-Have Gear

    →Shockz OpenRun Pro headphones: These are amazing. They’re waterproof and they allow you to hear the ambient noise around you so if you’re running outside, you can hear cars buzzing by you or people saying “on your left” when you’re on the bike trail.

    →Your Marathon Training Plan: I am a Nike person and I’ve gone through all of their pairs of shoes. I did my last two marathons in these, and I can’t recommend them more. I like the Vaporflys because they fit really well and they’re even lighter than the Alphaflys.

    →Courtesy Yianni Konstantopoulos: This tank top feels like you're wearing nothing. This is part of my super light kit racing gear.