“I just kept walking or jogging the rest of the way. I’d walk half a mile, then jog half a mile. Every time I tried to run I got sick.”

As could be expected, Tyler’s mom was on the verge of freaking out. More than 500 runners dropped out of the race that day, and each time she heard an ambulance, she assumed they were coming to get her son.

“I was going to go from mile 18 to the finish line, but when I saw him at 18, I decided to go to mile 22,” she said. “He didn’t look good at all. I was hoping he would quit, but he wanted to keep going.”

Tyler eventually made it across the finish line in 5:43:28. He said once he got across, he went over to a fence and finally threw up.

“I felt a lot better after that,” he said. “I wanted to do that the last six miles but couldn’t.”

Tyler said the skepticism of his friends is what kept him going.

“I wasn’t going to let them be right,” he said. “I wanted to prove I could actually do it.”

Tyler was sore for a few days afterward but is fine now.

“I’d like to do another one,” he said. “Next time I’ll start training sooner, like at the start of the track season.”

For your mom’s sake, Tyler, let’s hope you start sooner than that.

Jim Rueda is the Free Press sports editor. To contact him, call 344-6381 or e-mail him at jrueda@mankatofreepress.com.