This Sunday, thousands of runners will lace up their shoes and toe the starting line for the BMW Dallas Marathon. For athletes ambitious enough to take on the 26.2-mile feat, the race starts at Dallas City Hall Plaza. Runners will make their way through Uptown and Highland Park, go around White Rock Lake and circle back to finish downtown.

At the end of November, I ran my first marathon in Philadelphia. Enough time has passed that I can walk down the stairs normally again, but I still have the black and blue toenails to prove my achievement.

Shortly after moving to Dallas this summer, I signed up for the race. Running has become my way of learning the city and getting to know the nooks and crannies that weave through each neighborhood. When I’m running, the city starts to shrink. Neighborhoods that once felt far away from one another are suddenly connected, and with every mile covered on foot, the city feels a little more familiar.

Since I joined my local YMCA track team in third grade, I’ve never stopped running. From high school cross country races to joining my college’s club running team and running a half marathon this past spring, I’ve run a lot of miles over the years. A marathon was the final race on my list, and it seems I’m not the only one.

Jason Schuchard, president of the BMW Dallas Marathon, said this year, over 5,000 runners are registered for the full marathon. Registration opened May 1 and the race was already sold out in August, the earliest sell-out date in the race’s 54 years.

Why is there a growing interest in running marathons?

Gen Z runners

More young runners are signing up for races, pinning on a bib and crossing the finish line.

According to Strava, a social media app where athletes can track runs and other workouts, there was a 33% increase in Gen Z runners recording a marathon race on the app this year compared with 2024.

In an era where traditional markers of success — buying a house, getting married or having kids — are becoming more out of reach, training for a race seems like an attainable goal and something that young people can set their sights on.

An increase in running clubs in part fuels the running craze. These groups host community runs that attract large numbers of runners.

The number of running clubs registered on Strava more than tripled this year.

Dallas is home to its own run clubs, many of which have gained popularity on social media. I structured my training around these weekly meet-ups, dashing around town with Pegasus Run Club’s marathon crew, trading training tips with Oak Cliff Run Crew, and chatting with newbie runners training for their first 5k and ex-cross country kids at Kairos Run Club.

Run clubs are good places to meet other people who also enjoy the “runner’s high,” and it’s encouraging to see so many showing up to run in their communities.

This year, the Dallas Marathon is partnering with about 10 run clubs in the area. Schuchard said the clubs help provide exposure for the race, volunteer to lead pace groups for the half and full marathons and organize cheer zones on the course.

On your own

While running clubs are a fun way to find community, a lot of my training was OYO (on your own, as my high school coach used to note on our training plan). I’ve logged hundreds of miles on the Katy Trail, weaving between dog walkers, rollerbladers and college kids clad in Lululemon.

Every Saturday morning, I drove out to White Rock Lake for my long run. The 9-mile loop is the place in Dallas to do a weekly long run, the pinnacle of marathon training. While specific training plans vary, building mileage each week during a longer run to simulate race day conditions is key to success.

In the early morning, the paved path around the lake is filled with cyclists and runners adorned with water belts. The discarded packets of energy gels littering the pavement are proof that there are a lot of people training for races. There’s something comforting about being surrounded by others who also find it enjoyable to spend a good portion of their weekend running.

In July, I slogged through the miles in the heat. I could barely finish eight miles, not even a full loop around the lake, without walking. A few weeks ago, I set out for 20 miles, the longest run I would do before race day. That’s a little more than two loops around White Rock Lake, something that was unthinkable at the beginning of the summer.

One of my training runs took me from my apartment near the Katy Trail to Southern Methodist University, over to White Rock Lake and then on the Santa Fe Trail passing by Fair Park and weaving through Deep Ellum.

Even though I started the run at 6 a.m. in the dark, by the time I got to Fair Park and my watch chimed to let me know I had reached 13 miles, just a few more to go, the temperature was already climbing close to 90 degrees. Training in the Texas heat is no joke, but it paid off in Philadelphia. The crisp mid-30s temps I was greeted with on race day were a welcome relief after months of running under the Texas sun.

On social media, runners in matching race day kits with colorful shoes set off for 26.2 miles. Some opt for special shoes with carbon-fiber plates that provide an extra boost with each stride, vests with pockets designed to hold energy gels, electrolytes and water, watches to calculate your pace and even minty balms to soothe the pain that comes with running for hours.

But you don’t need high-tech gear to be a runner. The magic of a marathon is all the training and preparation that happen months before you arrive at the starting line. The race is the final victory lap.

For those running the marathon this Sunday, take it all in. Pause your music to listen to the roar of the crowd as you turn into the final stretch. Take an orange slice from a spectator at mile 21 when you feel like your legs can’t move anymore. High-five the “Tap here to power up” sign and don’t forget to smile when you cross the finish line — you paid to do this!

Caroline Collins is editorial fellow for The Dallas Morning News.

Dallas County adult probation director Arnold Patrick “has transitioned out of his role” leading the department, according to an email his deputy sent to employees Friday.

The criminal district and county court judges who oversee the Community Supervision and Corrections Department director declined to comment on the nature of Patrick’s departure. Christina O’Neil, chief counsel for the judiciary, told The Dallas Morning News matters involving employees “are confidential and not subject to public dissemination.”

But Patrick’s departure comes as the department remains under a state investigation prompted by reporting from The News in October that uncovered how Patrick paid his state advocacy association colleague $45,100 in a contract to vet vendors despite the consultant acknowledging in an email he did not complete the work.

The audit by the Texas Board of Criminal Justice’s Office of Internal Auditor is still in process, according to director of communications Amanda Hernandez.

Patrick did not respond to a phone call or text message seeking comment. Marta Kang, deputy director of the adult probation department, is serving as acting director, according to the email she sent employees Friday.

“Please know that my focus will remain on collaboration, communication and ensuring we have what we need to succeed,” Kang wrote.

In January 2023, Patrick hired Austin-area lobbyist Eric Knustrom to screen and handle vendors doing business with the probation department while the two were also working together in a state advocacy association they created the year prior, emails obtained by The News show.

During the year of Knustrom’s contract with the probation department, he missed deadlines and did not perform core duties of the agreement, according to his December 2023 termination letter. Knustrom failed to review vendor applications, provide status updates or share outcomes of client complaints, the letter states.

Records show the probation department issued Knustrom five checks totaling $45,100 in 2023.

By early 2024, Knustrom had cashed only $12,300 worth of the checks.

In May 2024, five months after his contract ended, Patrick asked Knustrom if he was going to redeem the outstanding payments, emails show. Knustrom responded by acknowledging he did not perform all the work he was contracted to do and needed to make up for it.

“I’d like to cash the checks (bc I’m poor) but I want to come up with a statement of work that will allow me to provide actual services of actual value equal to that compensation for Dallas County. Sound fair?” Knustrom wrote.

Patrick encouraged him to cash the checks, even if the work performed wasn’t up to standards. He said the outstanding checks were causing an issue for the county.

“Cash them and then issue the statement before you spend it if that will work,” Patrick wrote. “If not, I need to cancel them.”

Knustrom declined to comment on Friday. In a previous interview, Knustrom said the work he performed was not “my A-game,” but he still fulfilled his duties by reviewing the department’s procurement process and creating a system to receive vendor complaints.

Patrick said in a previous interview that Knustrom performed work even though it wasn’t up to either of their standards.

Knustrom’s contract called for him to submit monthly invoices detailing the number of hours worked and a list of assignments completed each month. None of the 11 monthly invoices for $4,100 that Knustrom submitted include any detail about the work he performed.

Knustrom said his delay in cashing the outstanding checks was an oversight. He said he received one payment of $4,100 in October 2023 via electronic deposit and deposited two checks totaling $8,200 in April 2024 into his personal bank account.

In summer 2024, Knustrom said he tried to make a larger deposit but had problems setting up a business account at a bank. Then he forgot about the money until earlier this year when he needed a down payment for a car, Knustrom said. By then, the checks were outdated, so the probation department voided them and issued a new check for $32,800 in May, Kevin Camacho, a county auditor supervisor, previously confirmed.

Patrick and Knustrom’s work together dates back at least to 2021, when Knustrom was a lobbyist for the Texas Probation Association, which represents many of the state’s 123 probation departments.

In 2022, Patrick and two other probation directors created a spinoff group, East Texas Community Supervision Alliance, with Knustrom as its registered agent.

While working for Dallas County in 2023, Knustrom provided pro bono assistance to the East Texas alliance during that year’s legislative session. Emails show Knustrom conducted analysis of a bill supported by the alliance that would have required probation departments to return less money to the state every two years.

Knustrom also emailed a staffer of state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, and unsuccessfully encouraged his office to back the bill. The bill later died in committee.

Knustrom said he did not register with the Texas Ethics Commission in 2023 to lobby for the alliance because the group did not pay him for his efforts and he did not meet with lawmakers on the alliance’s behalf. He said he was acting as a member of the group rather than its lobbyist.

By the 2025 legislative session, Knustrom was registered to officially lobby on behalf of the East Texas alliance but said the group still did not pay him.

At a legislative committee hearing on May 5, Knustrom registered on behalf of the alliance against a bill that passed and changed the approval process for probation departments’ budgets. Patrick was there and testified against the bill. The probation department issued Knustrom a replacement check for the stale 2023 payments the next week, the payment register shows.

Knustrom said while he was working with Patrick on the alliance’s issues, he also was trying to buy a new car and needed a down payment. That’s when he said he remembered his uncashed check from Dallas County’s probation department and asked Patrick to reissue the stale $32,800 payments from 2023.

Both Patrick and Knustrom previously said their work together with the East Texas Alliance was unrelated to Knustrom’s contract with Dallas County.

“One is not related to the other,” Patrick said, “but I acknowledge that it does look funny.”

A Dallas woman who beat a rare and aggressive cancer is being celebrated in a special way. The Dallas Stars Foundation recently honored her at a home game not just for her strength, but for the artwork that helped her heal.  

For Dallas attorney Gracen Moreno, last Friday’s Stars game was about more than hockey.

“The entire arena… it seemed like everyone was either holding a shirt or talking about the shirt,” she said. 

A shirt she designed carries a powerful message, “Finish the Fight.”  

Last year, at just 29-years-old, Gracen was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer. At the time, she was preparing for a jury trial and planning a wedding two months away. The plans were suddenly moved up to just one week after her diagnosis.

“You kind of have your whole life ahead of you and then it turns out upside down,” she said. 

Her first symptom was a lingering cough. Then an X-ray revealed a nine-centimeter mass in her chest and a CT scan followed. 

“My doctor called me and said don’t panic but I need you to go to the emergency room to start getting the process in place to get out whatever is in your chest biopsied,” she said. 

Soon after came the news she feared most. 

“When I heard or I found out that I had cancer, it’s like your worst nightmare ever coming true,” she said. 

“Alk-Negative Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma is one of the rarest types of what we call non-Hodgkins lymphoma and it’s particularly aggressive unless treated appropriately,” Jana Reynolds, MD, a Texas Oncology physician on the medical staff at Baylor Scott & White Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center said. 

Doctors told Gracen the prognosis wasn’t good, only about a 30% chance of surviving five years. 

“What happens when the worst possible thing that you think at the time is the worst possible thing happens to you?” she said.  “Well, you can either give up, which is not an option, or you can decide to fight.” 

Fight she did. Through several rounds of grueling chemotherapy and, ultimately, a bone marrow transplant at Baylor Scott & White’s Sammons Cancer Center.

“On one of my lowest days of hospitalization my husband looked at me and said do you want to go paint something?” she said. “How do we make this better? I couldn’t see friends or family.”

Inside the hospital’s Arts in Medicine studio, Gracen began painting, using creativity to cope with the long days of treatment. 

While there, her art therapist learned she was a Dallas Stars season ticket holder and when an opportunity came up, she knew exactly who to recommend. 

“She came later to my hospital room and said you’ll never believe this, but I got an email from the Stars earlier today asking if I knew any cancer patients that also participated in the art program and I think you would be perfect for it,” she said. 

At last Friday’s home game, the Dallas Stars Foundation honored Gracen, celebrating her remission and her resilience.

The team asked her to design custom artwork for a special T-shirt given to the first 500 fans and even players. 

“Everyone was really invested in the mission,” Gracen said. “It was really cool to see fans, players, coaches, all either wearing the shirt or just celebrating the fight against cancer itself.” 

Her team of doctors say the recognition was well deserved. 

  “I’m so proud of her for accepting the challenge and honestly bringing more attention to the serious things that we face,” Dr. Reynolds said.  

“It was a really special night,” Gracen said.