Long before Ser-Od Bat-Ochir became one of the most prolific distance runners in the world, he planted himself on the start line of the Hong Kong Marathon in 2002. At the time, Ser-Od had never run anything longer than 20 kilometers — or about 12 miles — even in training.
“I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.
That hardly prevented him from running with a lead group of Kenyans for the first few miles, after which the marathon imposed its remorseless brand of agony. As he labored to the finish line, well out of contention, Ser-Od came to an important realization: Marathons are long and difficult.
“I just thought, I don’t want to do this again,” he said. “But here I am.”
Yes, here is Ser-Od, now 41, and there is no one else quite like him. A five-time Olympian, he has now run in 74 marathons and represented Mongolia at every major international competition since 2003.
On Sunday morning, with the support of his wife, Oyuntuya Odonsuren, who moonlights as his coach, Ser-Od will make his 11th straight appearance at the World Athletics Championships when he tackles the streets of Budapest in the men’s marathon.
In the process, Ser-Od has become a uniquely popular figure in the marathon world: a self-made runner who emerged from obscurity to become a…
