Este dos veces Six Star Finisher está orgulloso de ser “korican”
Photo provided by Marathon Foto.Mike Alcaide is a certified running coach and two-time Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star finisher who is known in the running community as Mike the Korican (@mike_the_korican) or MTK.
"Some folks used to ask me what my ethnic background was, and I would answer ‘Korican’ as a joke,” he said “I thought Mike the Korican would be a fun spin on my two ethnic backgrounds: Korean and Puerto Rican. As I gained some popularity in the running community, MTK became my running nickname.”
Growing Up Puerto Rican and Korean
Mike’s parents met in Korea while his father, who is Puerto Rican, was stationed there. Shortly after Mike was born, they moved to the U.S. and settled in New Jersey. He said even though he didn’t grow up with his Korean side of the family he still appreciates the culture even though he feels that he relates more to the Latino community. He speaks Spanish and his wife is Panamanian.
“I really do relate a lot to the Latino side of family. I didn’t have a lot of Korean family around.”
He said at first people in the running community didn’t think he was Latino because he looks Asian but eventually, they realized he was Puerto Rican after he started advocating for Puerto Rico to be on the Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Hall of Fame page as a nationality.
Becoming a Six Star Finisher
After Mike’s mother passed away, he wanted to find a way to honor her, so he decided to run to raise money for charities that focus on families and children; two things she was passionate about.
Shortly after, he started on his journey to become a Six Star finisher.
In 2018, Mike completed NYRR’s 9+1 program for guaranteed entry to the TCS New York City Marathon. He also ran the Berlin Marathon that year and in 2019 completed the Tokyo, London, Boston, and Chicago marathons and received his first Six Star Medal. This past spring, he received his second Six Star Medal in Tokyo as part of the largest cohort of Six Star finishers to date, earning the Guinness Book World Record.
“About 22 [Puerto Rican] runners were recognized in total at the capital in San Juan for this achievement. I was shouted out by the councilman for having done the feat two times,” he said.
Coaching for the Community
As a coach, he wants to give back to the community, something he wished he had when he first started running in his 40s after his friend’s father passed away from lung cancer. They ran the 2014 New York City Marathon to raise money for the American Lung Association.
“I had no coach. I got injured before the race. It took me over 6 hours to finish and I finished in the dark,” he said.
Eventually, he started training with the UNFRGVN Marathon Team and got certified as a coach.
“I want folks to be able to get the proper coaching needed to be better, healthier athletes.”
He coached a runner for six months in preparation for the Tokyo Marathon.
“I looked over to her and said today is going to be your PR day. If we maintain this pace, you’ll be a sub-6 finisher,” Mike said.
She finished under 6 hours, shaving off approximately 30 minutes from her previous PR.
Mike hopes to head back to Tokyo next year as he works toward earning his third Six Star Medal.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in a sport in a long time.”
Read more blog posts celebrating Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month here.