News from The Mahurin Honors College

Colby Alexander (MHC ‘25) is a journalism major and business administration minor from Tennessee who has a diverse set of extracurriculars and a love of running. His love of running has driven him to run multiple ultramarathons, making National Exercise Day (observed on April 18) even more important to him. Within the MHC and WKU, he spends his time as a Spirit Master, and began his first year in the Topper Orientation Program as a guide. He also is the president of the Hilltopper Eight Ball Pool Club.

Journalism was of interest to Colby because he is fascinated with writing, and loves telling people’s stories in a way that connects to everyone. Colby began running to stay in shape and create consistency in his routine and other aspects of his life, and distance running has always been his specialty. Colby believes that people can push themselves so much farther physically than their mental capacity allows. His favorite part of running is challenging this mental capacity and creating a reality where he can do whatever he sets his mind to. For him, running is a way to challenge himself. “I always tell people running for me is 65% mental, and 35% physical,” he said.

Colby’s dedication to the challenge of exercise exemplifies the spirit of National Exercise Day, and he found that his involvement in the MHC directly inspired his athletic endeavors. However, many people wonder why someone would ever run ‘for fun.’ Colby explains that, for him, the fun is in challenging his physical and mental capacities. “It’s this idea of relentless forward progress, one foot in front of the other,” he said. “There's a sense of accomplishment and this runner's high that is so real. You feel good about yourself, but also you've shown yourself that you were more than what you thought you could be.”

When he talks about running, Colby is not referring to a mile or two, which shows his dedication to a challenge. As an ultramarathon runner, he has completed multiple 50K races (32 miles) as well as a marathon. Specifically, his first ultramarathon was the Stump Jump 50K in Chattanooga, Tennessee. “It was the worst and best day of my life,” he said. Colby directly relates his ‘relentless forward progress’ to the MHC motto of ‘Ascend towards excellence.’ “My ascent towards excellence coincides with my relentless forward progress mindset that I apply to both running and life,” he said. His motivations for running as well as being a scholar coincide and encourage each other.

National Exercise Day celebrates people challenging themselves to ascend towards excellence
and have relentless, forward progress in all aspects of life. Colby takes this challenge and blows
it out of the water through ultramarathons, being a Spiritmaster, and all other involvements he
has as a scholar. Fellow scholars, use today to get your body moving, and find ways the MHC
pushes you to be not only a better student, but better in all aspects of life. “Class, my
organizations, my relationships that I've built on campus— The Mahurin Honors College just
takes that and pushes me. It is an accountability resource for me to stay in that mindset and not
fall back,” Colby said.