Sidney Native Inducted Into Hall Of Fame

Sidney native Mike Albin was recently inducted into the Rapid City, SD, Sports Hall of Fame for his achievements in distance running which includes competing in the world's six major marathons.

"I'm very excited and very humbled that I was chosen from the entire Rapid City athletic community," said Albin, who was in Sidney for the Women's Wellness Collective event last week.

Albin, a 1996 Sidney High School graduate, has competed in a total of 70 marathons including the six major world events held in Boston, Chicago, New York, Berlin, London and Tokyo. He completed the goal of running in the six major marathons when he ran in Tokyo during March 2023.

"It was unbelievable just being in Japan and Tokyo, the largest city in the world,"Albin said. He added that marathon attracted 40,000 runners.

Albin competed in the Boston marathon five times and the Chicago marathon four times. His favorite marathon experience came in Berlin. He explained that it was amazing to run near the former Berlin Wall and crossing from East Berlin to West Berlin.

Albin, 47, said his fastest time is 3 hours, 14 minutes for a marathon. He plans to run his next race in July.

"I will keep going as long as my body holds up," Albin said.

His running career started on March 15, 2005, when he looked to get into better physical shape. "I made it about a half-mile and had to walk home," he remembers. That summer, he ran in his first half-marathon and he entered his first marathon that fall.

"We're coming close to 20 years," Albin said of his career.

His routine includes running between 4-20 miles six days a week. Since tracking his miles beginning in 2013, Albin has ran 17,062 miles. He adds there was no tracking mechanism when he was active from 2005-2012.

He opened the Black Hills Running Company, which sells shoes and athletic apparel, in June 2022. He was pleased to show his items during the Sidney event last week.

"I always enjoy coming back," Albin said of visiting Sidney.