Becker native and 2009 graduate Kayla (Gudmundson) Floyd started running at age 13 when she joined the Becker cross country and track teams. She grew up watching her mom, Linda Gudmundson. Kayla followed in her brother (Steven’s) and her sister (Sarah’s) footsteps by taking up running.
Kayla continued to run in college for Winona State University from ‘09-’13 in cross country and track. She set the cross country school record while she was there, and was an NCAA All-American in 2012. Despite having a lot of commitments, Kayla says she kept running and also competed in some Ironman triathlons. More recently, she has been focusing more on what she really loves, which is running!
Floyd and her family live in Tampa.
“It’s wonderful to have such great weather and an incredible running community,” Floyd said of Florida. “I’m on an elite team here in Tampa - OPTC Elite - and we do lots of runs and workouts together. It’s a great group of people who are inspiring, encouraging and always helps having people motivate and push you.”
Kayla ran the Boston Marathon in 2023 and it was such an amazing experience that she knew she wanted to go back and run it again. She had her third child and daughter, Baylor, in February 2024 and was hoping she would be able to run the following Boston Marathon in 2025. Training again with her team helped so much and she started running times even faster than when she was in college, which really surprised her.
“It goes to show if you really enjoy something and have a supportive community and group of people around you, it shows how much you can accomplish,” said Kayla. “I love running as a form of worship, and God gave me a talent and passion so I’m going to use it to glorify Him!”
Kayla’s previous best time in the marathon was Boston in 2023; she ran it in 3:13. She knew going in to this race that she wanted to get a PR and was hoping to run under three hours. She set an even higher goal - that if she was feeling good she was going to try to do it in 2:55.
She crossed the finish line in 2:54:38 and couldn’t believe it.
“I was ecstatic and the weather was a perfect sunny day - around 60°,” she said. “I was feeling really good during the race until we hit the Newton Hills from miles 16-20 the course has some pretty famous hills, known for being tough.”
The last hill during mile 20 is the most famous, Heartbreak Hill.
“At that point in the race it started getting a little tough but I was able to keep my pace steady.” she continued. “The entire way the crowds are cheering - not one spot of the course is without people screaming for you and cheering you on. But as you get in the city, the noise level is incredible. You truly can’t hear anything and the energy really carried me through and kept me energized. What an amazing and incredible day!”
Stayce Haigh
Stayce Haigh started running hurdles while attending school in Becker in the 1980’s. She moved on to running 5K’s in 2013. She competed in a couple of 10K’s in 2015 and 2016 and also competed in some half marathons, as well.
Haigh has run several 5ks, 10ks and half marathons for training purposes and preparation for her ultimate goal of competing in the Boston Marathon.
Haigh started competing in marathons in 2018, with the Twin Cities Medtronic Marathon being Haigh’s first marathon. She was accepted to run the 2020 Boston Marathon in 2018 with a time of 3:46, but then COVID hit and the race was canceled.
In 2023, Stayce Haigh was again accepted to run the Boston Marathon with her Chicago Marathon qualifying time of 3:45:35.
The week leading up to the race, she had stopped in to her running store and spoke with a gentleman working there and he asked her what was her next race would be.
“The Boston Marathon,” Stayce said. “I am nervous!”
He politely asked her if she was planning on coming in first place. Haigh laughed and replied she did not expect to come in first. The gentleman replied that since she didn’t expect to come in first then she had nothing to be nervous about and enjoy the run.
“The gentleman’s encouraging words to me were the best advice ever and that’s what I ‘ran’ with,” she said.
Haigh said she ran and high fived kids and took in the course. She had her husband (Terry), two daughters (Dynasty and Khylee), son-in-law Tim; as well as her three grandchildren (Gabe, Aubrey and Josiah) on the sidelines in Boston to cheer her on. She also knew she had many family and friends tracking her back in Minnesota.
Haigh described Boston as a challenging course with the Newton hills between miles 19 and 22 also known as Heartbreak Hill.
“I didn’t let Heartbreak Hill break me,” she said.
Once she conquered them, she knew the toughest part was over.
“The next was the finish line. I crossed the finish line with a finishing time of 3:42:22 - a new personal best,” she said.
Haigh hopes this new time will get her into The New York Marathon in 2026. Until then, she will run her 10th Marathon this fall with her son Danny at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. Haigh estimates she has 10 more marathons to go and says it is never too late to start running.
