Long-distance running is a constant in J.T. Chestnut’s life.
Through joyful times and difficult ones and everything in between, Chestnut has steadfastly tightened the shoestrings of his size 8 ½ Hoka shoes, hit the road, and released endorphins as he logged one mile after the next.
In September 2025, the Cal State LA double alumnus and staffer ran the Berlin Marathon to complete the Abbott World Marathon Majors, the most distinguished accomplishment for marathon runners. Chestnut executed the six-race, 157.2-mile milestone over three continents and an 11-year period that spanned three distinct and pivotal chapters of his life.
He ran the Chicago Marathon (2014) and the London Marathon (2016) as he battled alcoholism in his 20s. He followed up with the Tokyo Marathon (2023), the New York City Marathon (2023), and the Boston Marathon (2024) during his undergraduate and graduate years at Cal State LA. And he put an exclamation point on the Majors in Berlin and received the Six Star Medal while working as the Guardian Scholars Program’s outreach and retention specialist at Cal State LA.
A month after completing the Berlin Marathon, Chestnut celebrated five years of sobriety.
“Running saved my life,” said the 36-year-old Pasadena resident. “It played a huge role in my recovery; it gave me the enthusiasm to wake up each morning.”
Chestnut began running competitively for the cross country and track teams at James B. Hunt High School in Wilson, North Carolina. He served as the teams’ captain from his sophomore to senior years.
He brought his passion for the sport to the streets of Southern California when he relocated to Los Angeles at the age of 18.
But he had no desire to participate in a marathon until he had a particularly challenging few days during the week of his 23rd birthday in March 2012. First, his beloved North Carolina Tarheels men’s basketball team was defeated by a buzzer-beater by the rival Duke Blue Devils.
But the real tragedy followed a few days later when Chestnut’s idol, Whitney Houston, died by accidental drowning in Beverly Hills.
“It broke my heart,” he said. “I wanted to pay tribute to her. So, I ran my first marathon for Whitney Houston, and throughout that year I ran every race, every marathon, every half-marathon in honor of her.”
Photo: J.T. Chestnut celebrates after posting a time of 4 hours and 24.20 minutes at the Berlin Marathon.
(Credit: J.T. Chestnut)
About five weeks after Houston’s death, Chestnut, with very little training, competed in the Los Angeles Marathon. He ran a second marathon and six half-marathons by year’s end.
“That was when running connected more with me. That’s when it became part of my identity,” he said.
He signed up for more marathons, partly to satisfy another passion—traveling to and exploring unfamiliar cities. In the next few years, he checked off the Chicago Marathon and the London Marathon.
At the time, he was unaware of the Abbott World Marathon Majors or that he had already picked up two stars for Chicago and London. Chestnut was also working in the service industry in Los Angeles, partying too much with friends, and struggling with an addiction to alcohol.
“Even though I still ran, I was in a place in my life where I was in a constant toxic circle of doing the same thing,” he said. “I wasn’t developing as a person. I got physically tired, and I started to have health issues.”
Chestnut would black out and forget full conversations and the events of nights out with friends. He said he reached his lowest point during the pandemic, when isolation led to heavy drinking because “there was nothing else to do.”
A visit with his mother, Theresa, back in North Carolina proved to be the turning point. She sat him down and told him she was afraid she was going to lose him.
Chestnut had his final drink, a glass of Chardonnay, on the return flight to Los Angeles.
“When I woke up the next morning on Oct. 15, 2020, I cried and said, ‘I surrender. I can’t do this anymore.’”
A friend helped connect him with Alcoholics Anonymous.
“From that point on, I’ve been taking it one day at a time,” he said. “That first year of recovery was not easy. I felt alone at first. It was my first time processing feelings without any substance. I couldn’t remember the last time I was actually in the present. I started to see myself smile again. I started to see myself eating in a healthier way. I started to see myself just really focused. And before you know it, I was celebrating one year.”
Running daily centered him, and he was able to focus on what was important to him.
He transferred from West Los Angeles College to Cal State LA in fall 2021, and earned his Bachelor of Science in Marketing in spring 2023 and his Master of Public Administration two years later.
Chestnut also began working for Cal State LA, originally as a student assistant in summer 2022.
In his current role, Chestnut mentors students who are current or former foster children and ensures they have all the tools and information they need to graduate. Chestnut himself was a foster child.
And once he finally found out about the Abbott World Marathon Majors, Chestnut knew he had to collect the remaining four stars.
In Berlin, Chestnut wore a back bib that informed other runners he was about to earn his Six Star Medal. Throughout the race, he received encouragement, congratulations, and his fair share of high-fives.
“In my mind,” he said, “I was thinking about my 11-year journey in the world majors and how I was in different stages of my life, and what I was going through, and who was on this journey with me, and who no longer was on this journey with me. About the challenges, the victories, the upsets, and the lessons. By the time I crossed the finish line, I was so overjoyed with gratitude. I did it. I finally did it, and I did it at the right time of my life—when I got myself together.”
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California State University, Los Angeles is the premier comprehensive public university in the heart of Los Angeles. Cal State LA is ranked number one in the United States for the upward mobility of its students. Cal State LA is dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good, offering nationally recognized programs in science, the arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education, and the humanities. Founded in 1947, the University serves more than 22,000 students and has more than 270,000 distinguished alumni.
