J.T. Chestnut

Running is what makes J.T. Chestnut feel most alive. 

From the early days of running cross country in high school to completing three of the world’s most prestigious marathons – and on track to finish his fourth this year – he’s been a runner for more than half of his life. 

Another thing that’s followed him through the years: His love of Whitney Houston. Just browse his social media feed for a day or two, and you will surely see a lot of her. 

“She is such an amazing … her voice and her presence, and the fact that she loved the Lord with all her heart even through all she was dealing with. And that’s who I am. I love God with all my heart, and I still hold on to every little thing that he’s done for me in the past and the present and the future,” J.T. says.

J.T. has had an incredible year. He graduated from Cal State LA with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He’s about to start his master’s program, and he’s also training for the New York City Marathon after crushing the Tokyo Marathon in March. He is a mentor in the Guardian Scholars Program at Cal State LA, helping to guide and support other students who grew up in foster care to succeed at school, a role he deeply loves.

“One student that really made an impact on me was Michael. Michael was a young Black man I met in his freshman year. When I first met him, he was shy, but by the end of the year, he started to open up and develop his personality, and then he found an apartment of his own, and I congratulated him. He said, ‘J.T., thank you so much for pushing me. You really, really motivated me to do what I was supposed to do. Your positive attitude and you checking in really meant a lot to me, and I really do appreciate it.’ That makes me happy because we’re all trying to thrive in this community, and that’s really important. That’s what it’s all about.”

There’s no doubt that J.T. spreads positivity and influence wherever he goes, and you’re sure to find him smiling, cheering and celebrating with NA beer at every finish line!

Read on to learn more about J.T. and what motivates him to pursue his marathon goals across the world.

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Tell me a little bit about yourself, and how fitness and sports came into your life. 

My name is J.T. I am 34 years old. I’m originally from Wilson, North Carolina, but I’ve been living out in Los Angeles, California, for the past 15 years. I’m going to reach a point soon where I get to say that I’ve lived here half my life. 

Fitness has been incorporated in my life since I was a freshman in high school. During that summer entering high school, after eighth grade, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do in regards to sports. How can I find my place? I remember this like it was yesterday: I was just trying to figure out what I was going to do, so I went for a run one day, and I was like, OK, I’m starting to like this, so maybe I can do cross country. This black SUV would always pass by me during the afternoon and the morning when I was out on my runs.

It was about 3 weeks befores school that this black SUV stopped when I was running, and I was like, “What in the world? What’s going on?” The window rolled down, and it was a woman who said, “Hi, how are you J.T.? My name is Coach Miller. I’m your cross country coach. Come to cross country practice and tryouts next week.”

So that’s how I got into running. I was 14 years old. 

 

You have completed several high-profile marathons across the world! Tell me more about your experience running and having that sport to follow throughout your life. 

When I finished high school, and moved over to California – I’m so blessed that I can say that running was still within me. Some people would probably say they are done with running after high school, but I was the opposite. Running is my thing; it’s always gonna be my thing, and I’m gonna do my best to always have it within me. 

I was looking at Athlinks not too long ago, and my first actual race in California was in 2009: The Los Angeles Pride Run. This was back when I was skinny, young, in my early 20s, fast. I looked at my time and I was like oh my, my 5K was 19:29. Here I am, now 34, and I’m starting to get back into that peak because right now, I’m in Whitney Houston’s era of The Bodyguard – I’m in the peak era of my running because I’m feeling stronger! 

When I began running, from 2009 to 2011, I was just doing half marathons, 5Ks, a couple of 10Ks … but then BAM, Whitney Houston died in 2012, and I was like, I’m gonna sign up for the LA Marathon and dedicate it to her. That was my first-ever LA Marathon.

After that – you’ll hear a lot of people say once the marathon bug bites you, you’ll never stop – and that’s what happened to me. 2012 to 2015 was a good era of running, but it was from 2015 to 2017 when I started to really love running. I got my first sponsor – Angel City Brewery in downtown LA. – and I started to incorporate my running within traveling as well. My first major marathon was London in 2016. I ran that, and I was very pleased with the fact that I was doing this thing that I love and I can travel and meet wonderful people. 

So once I got into that, I started to incorporate myself into the world of track and field as well. My friends are Olympians and elite athletes. I would go to summer competitions like the Olympic Trials or USATF Outdoor Champs and incorporate myself in that. I would host an after party, every Sunday of the weekend for athletes, coaches, and agents. We were going to Eugene [Oregon], Sacramento, Albuquerque – all these places. I fell in love with that. But it wasn’t until 2018 that I noticed my running was starting to go downhill because of my heavy use of drinking. 

I was drinking and partying a lot, and I was working a lot too, so my running was not in the best place. I would complete a marathon, but it’d be barely 4 hours, which is not my speed at all. And it was just not a good place. I was just in this very sunken place. And then when the pandemic hit in 2020, I thought I was healthy since I was running every day. I thought I was still speedy and everything. But I was very unhealthy because I was drinking the whole time too. 

A lot of things happened. I actually shared this at my graduation party with a lot of people – some people didn’t know this, but I had an alcoholic withdrawal seizure on Aug. 9, 2020, and after that – that was the first wakeup call of saying get your s*** together in regards to my drinking. I stayed sober for a little bit because I was on medication. But after that, I went on a heavy bender. I was back in North Carolina for my sister’s wedding. 

Before I got on the flight, my mom spoke to me. She said, “J.T., I love you so much, but you need to get some help because if you don’t, you’re going to die, and I’m not sure what I’ll do without you.”

I remember getting on my flight a few hours later. I had a layover in Chicago. I drank a bloody Mary. Landed in LA. Went to a bar. Had a couple of beers. Watched some football. 

And I remember – my last alcoholic drink was a chardonnay. The next day I woke up, and I was crying my eyes out because I was physically, mentally and emotionally tired of the way I was living my life. I knew that my mom was right, and she is the one person that I love so much, and she poured her heart out to me, and she was real, and that was the wake-up sign that I needed. 

Now, with running – I was still running, and I felt that running was still in touch with me. So I did my first “rust buster” in 2021 – the Austin Half Marathon. I was like, OK, back to reality. Here we go! I started to run some more. I did my first sober marathon in October 2021: the Chicago Marathon. I remember being like, this feels good. I’m back. I take it one day at a time, still, and I’m glad that I trusted the process of taking it one day at a time. 

Right after Chicago, everyone and their mamas were receiving emails saying they got into the Berlin Marathon. I was so bitter about it, so I was like, if everyone’s doing an international race, let me find an international marathon or running event around that time. So I entered the Dublin Marathon and got in. That was the commitment: Here comes the Dublin Marathon. 2022 rolls around: It was a fun year because I celebrated in England. I ran my first race Jan. 1, 2022, the Serpentine 10K in London. It was amazing! 

The summer of 2022 training was life-changing. The 4:30 a.m. wake-up times began. Last summer, I was an orientation leader here at Cal State LA , so I would have to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to get my long runs in, and then later that day, at 7 a.m., start the day with, “Hey guys, my name is J.T. Welcome to Cal State LA!” So you can imagine about 4 p.m. – do you think I want to run? No! 

The Dublin Marathon hits in October 2022. Believe it or not, I ran a PR in Dublin! I did 3:27:28, and I beat my PR from 2016. That was the moment where I said: It works when you work it one day at a time. I thank God for sobriety, and I thank God for everything in advance. 

I still love running. I had an opportunity to run the Tokyo Marathon in February, which was amazing. I entered the lottery for that and I got in. I just got the news two weeks ago that I’m running the New York Marathon! So I’m stoked about that, too. It’s just great. I just love running. 

 

What are your goals with running? What would you like to achieve?

I’d love to get faster in my running, and I’d love to inspire more people to get up and run. When other people tell me stories about running the race for the first time or this and that, it feels really, really good. It’d also be fun to be known as the fun, all-around travel runner. I’d love to have a company endorse my behind and be like, here’s some money: Go travel and run with your heart!

You also recently graduated from Cal State LA with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. You didn’t take the traditional route through college (immediately after high school). Can you tell us more about that journey?

I graduated high school in 2007, so I had the opportunity to go to school back then, but I knew for a fact that if I went back then, I would’ve easily dropped out. Living in California, I worked in the service industry. It was great. I love the service industry. It was great money; I made many wonderful new connections and had great experiences. But to be real with you, it’s a trap: It can easily become a toxic community. As I approached 30, I said to myself: “Do I want to be a server my whole life? Do I want to bartend and wait on people for the rest of my life?”

That’s when I knew I had to go back to school. I began the journey in winter of 2019. I was still drinking and partying, so I did pretty well for what it was, but I could've done better. When I got sober, I noticed that the focus and the drive were there, so I transferred to California State-LA with a 3.0 GPA, which was really good as the requirement for the school was 2.0. 

My first semester, I was kind of apprehensive about the whole thing, getting adjusted to it. At the time, I was 32 years old, entering school, and I knew for a fact that I was the old one in the crowd. But as time developed, I became more connected, and I became the person people would go to and recognize in class or perhaps on campus, and speak at events and everything. 

Before you know it, I graduated May [2023] with honors in marketing with my bachelor’s, and I am going to be starting in August here at Cal State in the master's program in public administration. 

 

What’s your dream job or long-term career goal?

I would love to work with the community, like with a town, or with a city. When I think about community, outdoors, parks and recreation – I’d love to be a director of parks and rec, or maybe work at the chamber of commerce. That’d be great!

Do you have any mentors that have helped you discover what you love in terms of a career path and through school?

Yes. I have to say that I’m very blessed. Growing up, I remember as a kid hearing from the elders and from people of how education is so important in the Black community and how education is key. My mentors here at Cal State LA are Black educated professionals who have doctorate and masters degrees, and they’re helping me to thrive as much as possible, and they are so authentic and genuine about it. They’re definitely my mentors. 

 

You are also a mentor yourself! You work with the Guardian Scholars Program at Cal State LA. How did you find that role, and what do you like about it?

I’m a foster kid. After I came out to my family, unfortunately my parents didn’t take it well. Now, by the grace of God, with time and healing, all is well in my family. But I was in foster care, so when I got into the Guardian Scholars program, and when I started at West LA College, I got involved and connected to the one here and became a peer mentor after the director saw me as an orientation leader and saw how engaged I was with the students. 

One student that really made an impact on me was Michael. Michael was a young Black man I met in his freshman year. When I first met him, he was shy, but by the end of the year, he started to open up and develop his personality, and then he found an apartment of his own, and I congratulated him. He said, “J.T., thank you so much for pushing me. You really, really motivated me to do what I was supposed to do. Your positive attitude and you checking in really meant a lot to me, and I really do appreciate it.”

That makes me happy because we’re all trying to thrive in this community, and that’s really important. That’s what it’s all about. 

 

 

Anyone who follows you on social media will quickly notice your love of Whitney Houston and many other amazing Black female musicians. I know you are her biggest fan! Tell me more about discovering her music and why it speaks to you.

I love Whitney Houston! Her voice is so beautiful. She’s impacted so many people in so many positive ways with her music and her voice. I distinctly remember, my dad – this was back in 1992/93 – when I was a kid in the back seat of the car, my dad and my uncle were driving, and “I Will Always Love You” was playing on the radio. That part where she does, “And I …” would scare the crap out of me. It was just so powerful. 

I remember my dad had the LP “I’m Every Woman,” with her on the cover in this cheetah print, and I would listen to it all the time. From that point on, Whitney played a role in my life. 

On Feb. 8, 2012, which is my birthday, I remember the Duke vs UNC basketball game – I’m a Carolina fan – where Austin Rivers from Duke made the buzzer shot and Carolina lost. I was devastated. But I was supposed to meet Whitney Houston that Saturday at a club in Hollywood. They wouldn’t let me in. The next day at work, I’m finishing a shift. It was a training shift, so I was taking the test to see if I knew everything from the menu and whatnot, and my phone kept going off. I'm like, what is going on? 

Mom and sister called, and I had all these other missed calls. I’m like, what is going on? I look at my texts and all I see is: I’m so sorry, call me, did you hear the news? I looked up at the TV and I saw CNN reporting that Whitney Houston died. 

I was devastated. She is such an amazing … her voice and her presence, and the fact that she loved the Lord with all her heart even through all she was dealing with. And that’s who I am. I love God with all my heart, and I still hold on to every little thing that he’s done for me in the past and the present and the future. She just lost her battle unfortunately, even though she meant good, she just lost it. 

Like you mentioned, I appreciate other fierce Black female musicians and Black musicians in general. I had the opportunity to sing with and meet Diana Ross. Another one that really got to me that recently passed was Tina Turner. Her story of self love and resilience and growth and being of value and who she was even though she was treated like crap by some evil person, she still stayed positive and knew the love she had was meant for others in a way, and it was just so impactful. 

How did you find Athletic Brewing and the ambassador program?

It was in my early sobriety. I knew that I had no desire to drink but I truly enjoyed the flavor and enjoyed that there was an NA beer community. I walked into BevMo one day, and – I remember this like it was yesterday – I walked into BevMo on Arroyo Boulevard in Pasadena and checked it out and I was like, OK, I’m loving this.

I got really connected with the love of Athletic Brewing. Then I found out about the ambassador program on Instagram. I was like, OK, let me check this out. I signed up, got the email that I was in, and I was like, this is awesome, this is gonna be a cool community. 

I started to love everything about it: The positivity, the beautiful stories from other people, especially for those who are sober. But also people who just want to check out other options as well. I love the purpose of Athletic Brewing Company. We are fit. I know for a fact that’s what drove me to it, just the fact that health and fitness is the most important thing, and that’s why I think it’s beautiful. 

We see ourselves as athletes. We see ourselves as fit human beings, and when someone sees that as well … you can indulge in great things. It doesn’t have to be alcohol but we’ve got this [great NA beer too].

 

 

What are some of your proudest achievements? 

Definitely graduating from college. Making that Tina Turner comeback with my sobriety is definitely a proud achievement. I think another proud achievement would be making an impact on people, and enhancing their lives. I really love that; it makes me proud of what I do.

Do you have any bucket list races, events or achievements that you’d like to attain one day?

I would like to earn my 6 star finisher to run all the world’s major marathons. Right now, I will be on star No. 3. I’m going for completing No. 4 by November because that’s New York. I’ve done London, Chicago, and Tokyo. The only ones I will have left are Berlin and Boston.

What else? Hit the Mega Millions on a scratcher! 

But I also want to just have a great career by helping people and establishing a great community within my tribe, and enhance other people’s lives, and travel. Because of that Ted Lasso episode, I really want to go to Amsterdam. I really want to go to Africa. And I really want to go to Wakanda, so if you can get me a plane ticket, that’d be great. 

 

What’s your favorite (recovery) food?

After long races, I don’t want to touch any food. It takes me a while. But I love sushi. 

That must have been amazing after Tokyo!

It was out of this world! Sushi is great for recovery.

What do you like to do on rest days?

I love to play games on my PlayStation – Mortal Kombat. Let’s see, what else … I love to watch TV, go for walks, catch up with friends, read. Those are my rest days. 

 

What gets you up and out of bed every day?

Another day. Breath in my body. Seeing another day. Sobriety. Just new beginnings. 

What does Fit for All Times mean to you?

Fit for All Times means that you are fit for everything in your life. Everything that’s going on for you – throughout the whole month, you’re mentally and physically fit for everything that you will encounter. 

If you’re interested in joining the ambassador program, visit our Ambassador Community Page and sign up to be notified when applications open!