Mitchel Minor had one goal on Halloween night when he was growing up: trick-or-treat at every house in his family’s subdivision in Taylor Mill, KY.
It was a tough ask considering the number of houses on the long streets, and that he only had a two-hour window to accomplish his mission.
“I think it’s just that whole goal of completing something, then you add the physical part to it. I think he likes that. He likes a challenge,” Mitchel’s father, Shannon, said.
Mitchel, a senior walk-on with the Northern Kentucky Norse basketball team, has never been averse to physical challenges, and his family knows that, but they were still surprised when he revealed his plan to run 2,025 miles this year.
“Honestly, I didn’t believe him because he never was really into that stuff. He’s always been into his health and wealth, but with running, once he set a goal and set his mind to it, he just went off with it,” his younger sister, Milyn, said.
From 0 to 2,025 miles in a year and a half
Mitchel’s running journey began with a snap decision.
He woke up one morning in April 2024 and simply decided to go for a 1.6-mile run. Later that night, he was hanging out with a manager on the basketball team who said he was training for a marathon. Possibly still riding the runner’s high from that morning, Mitchel decided to join him, although his mom, Candi, eventually talked him down to the half-marathon instead.
“I fell in love with it. It was awesome. I did my first marathon six months later,” Mitchel said.
He hade his 26.2-mile debut at the 2024 Columbus Marathon, running 3:14:49, then trained for his next race throughout the basketball season, clocking a 3:06:56 in Toledo this past April.
“He still did everything that we did physically in the preseason with conditioning, running and lifting, and I think when you consider how much the marathon is by itself, the time that he got is incredible. But to do both of things at the same time is pretty unique,” NKU basketball head coach Darrin Horn said.
As the calendar flipped to 2025, Mitchel decided to embrace a year-long challenge that he could look back on to remember this chapter of his life. He latched on to the “misogi”, the Japanese practice of cleansing and purification through physical challenges. It originally involved submersing oneself in frigid water, but the spectrum has expanded to include a variety of trials.
“You don’t know what you did yesterday, but you know for a fact you did this thing in that year,” Mitchel said. “It’s taught me a lot of consistency. I’ve ran almost every single day of 2025. I couldn’t tell you the last day I didn’t run.”
The Northern Kentucky basketball team has Mitchel’s back
The support he’s received from his teammates and coaching staff has been immeasurable. It’s more than the amenities that come with being a Division I athlete, although the lifting sessions and therapeutic modalities of the athletic training facility have contributed immensely to his physical condition.
Each day, his temmates hold him accountable; graduate student Shawn Nelson has made a habit of asking if he’s run yet. The coaches give him the option to sit out during conditioning (he never does), provided him with hydration for his races and texted him encouraging messages that he could see on his watch as he ran.
On Sept. 27, Mitchel completed his third marathon in Columbus, Indiana. It was unlike his previous two races because he had set a goal that he wanted to run under three hours.
With his friend Logan Holmes running with him and various family members cheering him on, Mitchell crossed the finish line in 2:58:19, good for eighth place overall and first place in his age division.
After the race, he posted a picture of himself laying on the ground with the caption, “Was that supposed to be hard?”
“I put in the work and was expecting it to happen. I built this stack of undeniable proof and I felt like, when I was at the start line, there was no way I wasn’t going to get it,” Mitchel said.
Mitchel Minor has bigger goals after this memorable year is over
At the start of October, Mitchel was approaching 1,900 miles. He knew he would easily meet his goal based on his average daily mileage, so he adjusted and is aiming for 2,500 miles. His next goals, along with searching for a job, are running a sub-2:50 marathon and completing a 50-mile race.
“I enjoy the suck of it. I really do like waking up every day and doing something hard, doing something you don’t want to do. But when you wake up and overcome that challenge, it leads to a better day,” Mitchel said. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing hard things because it leads to so many positive things.”
Mitchel’s determination comes from his parents. Shannon was a standout basketball player at NKU and is in the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. Candi played volleyball at NKU for two years.
His competitive side comes with being the oldest of three siblings. Marshal played soccer for three years at Scott and one at NKU. Milyn, a volleyball virtuoso, is Scott’s all-time leader in digs and is currently second on the all-time kills list.
“They all bring something different to the table, and they compete at home. Who gets in the shower first? Who’s gonna eat the cereal first before it’s gone? Who’s gonna park in the driveway in the back so they can be out first?” Shannon said.
Throughout the year, Mitchel has joked that he could eat an entire pizza or a Crumbl cookie if he wanted to because he burns so many calories. He doesn’t have a big end-of-year celebration planned since he’ll still be in the middle of basketball season, but his family is on board with whatever he wants to do.
“Whatever he’s getting, I’m eating as well,” Milyn said.