Zane “Iggy” Chalker had never raced a marathon before Saturday.
Now he’s headed to the Olympic Trials.
The former Williamsport High School standout made quite a debut at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, finishing 10th among 8,439 runners in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds — 45 seconds under the qualifying standard for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
The 24-year-old, who now lives in Chicago and competes for Second City Track Club, averaged 5:10 per mile.
Chalker also made sure to represent his hometown Saturday, wearing a Hagerstown Track & Field hat with his Second City racing singlet.
“I’ll always have a connection to Hagerstown,” he said.
Chalker was confident heading into Indianapolis, but he also understood the uncertainty that comes with tackling the marathon distance for the first time.
“I was pretty confident the fitness was there,” Chalker said Sunday. “I knew I had the talent for that performance. … It’s just, of course, it’s the first one. There’s a lot of things to learn, and you never know how it’s going to go on the day.”
For much of the race, he had the benefit of running with a large group chasing the same qualifying standard.
“There must have been 30 of us in that pack,” Chalker said. “A ton of guys all going for the same thing.”
Two designated pacers helped keep the group on schedule, with one leading through 15 kilometers and another through the halfway point.
Chalker reached halfway in 1:07:34, right on target for a qualifying performance.
He ran remarkably even splits, covering the second half in 1:07:41, just seven seconds slower than the first. His pace barely wavered throughout the race.
But the marathon was far from easy. As the miles piled up, Chalker began experiencing leg cramps and worried that his Olympic Trials qualifier might slip away.
“I knew we were right on it,” he said of his qualifying pace. “But I was getting some cramping, and so I was getting a little nervous. Basically, at any point, things could go awry.
“So it was a huge relief to cross the finish line and know that it was done.”
Chalker described the physical demands of the marathon as considerably different from those of shorter races.
“Honestly, I think 5Ks and 10Ks hurt more. It’s more like that fire-in-your-chest feeling,” he said. “But the marathon, it was definitely just like a war of attrition. Just long, fatiguing, the legs cramping up. It felt like your legs could just give out at any time.”
Chalker’s performance was the latest milestone in a running career that began attracting attention locally when he competed for Williamsport.
He won the Maryland Class 1A boys cross country state championship in 2019 before graduating in 2020.
He then attended Hagerstown Community College, where he became a six-time NJCAA All-American before graduating in 2022.
Chalker continued his career at the University of Charleston in West Virginia, where he won four Mountain East Conference titles and established personal bests of 14:12.85 for 5,000 meters and 29:10.31 for 10,000.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in 2024 and an MBA in 2025.
Following graduation, Chalker moved to San Diego with his girlfriend, who had received an offer to attend school there. The couple returned to Hagerstown in June 2026 before relocating to Chicago in August.
There, Chalker joined Second City Track Club, where he trains under coach Michael Lucchesi.
“It’s been a lot of help to have some great guys to train with and great coaching as well,” Chalker said.
His marathon preparation included demanding workouts, such as six 3-mile repeats at approximately 5:12 per mile and four 4-mile repeats at marathon effort. He also completed a 26.2-mile training run in 2:36.
Chalker had plenty of support in Indianapolis. His parents attended the race, as did his girlfriend and Lucchesi.
Mike Spinnler, who coached Chalker at Hagerstown Community College, also made the trip to Indianapolis.
Spinnler watched his former runner pass near mile 19, with Chalker on pace to qualify for the Trials.
“That was huge, having him out there to support,” Chalker said. “That was really cool that he came out. That’s always a huge honor to have him out there.”
Chalker considers Saturday’s performance one of the finest of his career, alongside his 29:10.31 clocking for 10,000 meters.
“The marathon’s a whole other beast,” he said. “The amount of training that went into this is a lot, and to come out the other side and have success with it is huge.”
With his qualifying time secured, Chalker can now look ahead to the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on March 25, 2028, in St. Louis, where he’ll compete against the nation’s best distance runners for a chance to represent the United States at the Los Angeles Olympics.
Whether he’ll race another marathon before then remains uncertain.
“I think I’ve got to recover and forget how much it hurt before I give that another go,” he said.
