From prison to podium: Tiburon man finds second chance at life through running

On the path to becoming a gold-medal long-distance runner, Tiburon resident Markelle Taylor says he’s learned how to overcome adversity.

He likens taking on life’s challenges to lifting weights.

“It’s the pain and the suffering you go through in that and your muscles getting weaker and fatigued, but then you have a resting period, and it builds back stronger,” Taylor says. “And that’s what I’m doing.”

Taylor, 52, began running in 2015 while incarcerated at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, where he joined the facility’s 1,000 Mile Club and was quickly dubbed “Markelle The Gazelle.” He ran several marathons during his incarceration, using his time from his last prison marathon to qualify for the 2019 Boston Marathon after his release that year.

Since then, he estimates he’s run a dozen marathons across the U.S. and internationally, with a personal best time of 2 hours, 48 minutes. In March, he helped the U.S. win gold as part of a three-man 10K team at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Florida.

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