Finding His Stride

Adam Dalton ’16 has been running most of his life. But it took years of negotiating his identity and taking a break from the sport before he really found his stride. Once the pressure was off, Dalton was able to run freely, and he recently qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials.

Running to Prove Himself

Before coming to Grinnell, Dalton says his self-worth was directly tied to his athletic success. Many young athletes experience this feeling, but Dalton faced added pressure as he struggled with his identity while attending a small Catholic high school in Mason City, Iowa. To cope, he tried to prove his masculinity to himself and others by using running as an “unhealthy crutch,” he says.

A Fresh Start

Dalton wanted a fresh start in college. The open and tolerant atmosphere of Grinnell’s social and community life would prove just as important as the academics and athletics that attracted him to Grinnell in the first place. During his first semester, he felt comfortable coming out to his cross country teammates.

“Coming from a small Catholic high school in a smaller town in the Midwest, I knew that I’d been gay for a long time and realized I needed to go somewhere I could finally be open and address that. I think Grinnell offered a perfect opportunity based on its environment.”

Redefining His Relationship to Running

Dalton thrived as a member of the cross country and track teams, finally able to enjoy running for its own sake, rather than a measure of his self-worth. “When I no longer needed running to prove anything to myself, I was able to accept myself as a person and succeed in a more team-oriented environment.” He became a Midwest Conference champion in cross country and track and served as a captain of both teams during his senior year.

Although Dalton no longer relied on running as a crutch, the competition took its toll on him. Injuries during his senior year prevented him from realizing his dreams of making it to nationals. Disappointed and worn out from nearly a decade of competitive running, Dalton took a much-needed break as he moved across the country to start a graduate degree in City and Metropolitan Planning at the University of Utah.

After he started to miss the sport and feel extremely out of shape, Dalton found a tight-knit training group and started to train seriously again. In June 2018, he ran in Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, his first marathon ever. Entirely to his surprise, he qualified for the Olympic Trials with a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, and 52 seconds. In doing so, Dalton became just the second openly queer male-identified athlete to make the Olympic Marathon Trials. The first, Matt Llano, now serves as Dalton’s running coach for the upcoming trials.

Paving the Way for Others

As of 2019, there is only one openly queer male-identified athlete in the United States’ major sports leagues, soccer player Collin Martin. Dalton says, “That’s something I’m definitely hoping to see change over the next few years. Honestly, you've got to be kidding yourself if you think there’s tens of thousands of male-identified pro athletes and none of them are LGBT.” Therefore, Dalton wants to serve as a role model for kids like him who are searching for their own identity through sports.

Marathons are long, much like Dalton’s path to qualifying for the Olympic Trials. Dalton has come a long way since his younger days of running, and Grinnell’s tolerant and welcoming environment enabled him to flourish as he explored his identity and forged a new relationship to running.

However, Dalton doesn’t have too much time relish his success, as trials are coming up on February 29, 2020 in Atlanta.

According to Will Freeman, Grinnell’s men’s cross country and track and field coach, Dalton is the first male Grinnellian to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Stephanie Rouse ’13 also qualified and will be running in the same trials as Dalton. She joins Nicole Cueno ’02 as the only other Grinnellian to qualify.