NORTH SMITHFIELD – After ten years of trying, a local marathon man is set to achieve the goal of competing in an elite international race – and is inviting the community to follow his progress on the world stage.
Christopher McConnell, 37, of North Smithfield, will run in the Tokyo Marathon, a race in the Abbott World Marathon Majors original 6-Star Series, known as the most prestigious marathon series in the world.
Tokyo is McConnell’s sixth major marathon, and he notes that attaining a spot in the race was no walk in the park. Following the historic Ancient Greek Olympian race length, the route covers 26.2 miles, and is achievable only through qualifying as “extremely fast,” raising thousands of dollars for charity, or winning the lottery, explained McConnell.
He won his spot through the lottery, and “that’s why it took ten years.”
Twenty-three thousand two hundred sixty runners – that’s 0.0023 percent of runners – had, by the end of 2025, completed all six marathons: London, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Boston, and Tokyo. To complete all six marathons takes an average of about eight years, and McConnell, to date, has completed five. Sydney is now considered the seventh.
The longtime marathoner moved to North Smithfield in October 2024, trains around two hours each day and runs an average of ten miles a day.
This past Sunday, with the temperature hovering below freezing, he ran 20 miles in East Greenwich.
“It was cold,” he said.
He said he tries “really hard” to find roads to run on that are plowed in North Smithfield. He often runs at Lincoln Woods State Park, where he says people look at him “wondering what this maniac is doing running laps over and over.”
When people learn he’s preparing for a marathon, they tend to want to give the local runner their support.
His videos on on social media are “all about all the work you do behind the scene before that one day marathon,” he said.
The curious and supporters can keep track of McConnell’s running in races in real time as well.
He is on his way to Japan, but apparently, many other hopefuls are not. Abbott World Marathon Majors hosts 250,000 runners per year, and millions apply for a bib; that is, the runner’s number and other information worn on a cloth or paper on the chest or back.
For this Rhode Islander, the journey to the elite race hasn’t been a straight path. MCConnell noted his setbacks along the way have included falling off a 50-foot cliff and walking away without any broken bones in 2018, and almost dying from a dehydration-related heart attack during a marathon in 2021.
“Crossing the finish line in Tokyo will be a huge personal milestone and a testament to resilience. And maybe an example of psychotic stubbornness,” he said
A somewhat recent import from the West Coast, McConnell competed for more than 20 years, starting in high school. He was a basketball player for a team whose coach punished the players by having them run with the cross country team.
“I ended up beating the team,” said McConnell. “The coach said I couldn’t play basketball unless I was cross country.”
McConnell received a full long distance running scholarship to Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho.
The runner and his wife have lived in Los Angeles, and they came to Rhode Island because of his solar business.
“Rates are really high here,” he said of energy prices.
Far afield from Los Angeles, he and his spouse now reside on a small North Smithfield farm.
On race day March 1, the couple and a few friends will be in Tokyo.
McConnell notes he is “awkward about self promotion” but wants those interested to be able to follow him online at marathons – and to understand what it takes to do what he does.
Completing six major marathons is “a huge achievement in running,” he explained. What’s more, that achievement takes a lot of time training and money.
McConnell’s “personal best” in running is 2:41, achieved in 2024 in Berlin.
He notes that he’s come to love his community and is excited to represent North Smithfield on the world stage.
To see updates from training and the race, follow McConnell on TikTok at @farmerontherun.
