Slayde Meyer didn't see himself as being that heavy.
But when applying to go on a mission trip in the summer between his eighth-grade and freshman years at Forgan, Meyer calculated his body mass index to make sure he was eligible to be selected.
“According to that, I was obese,” Meyer said. “That's when I knew I had to change.”
So Meyer started with the basics of weight loss — diet and exercise.
Meyer started his weight-loss journey at around 300 pounds.
From October 2008 to April 2009, he lost around 90 pounds. By the summer, he was another 10 pounds lighter.
It didn't take long after Meyer started running, his preferred workout routine, that running a marathon became a goal.
His uncle had run seven marathons.
“I always thought it'd be an amazing thing to do,” Meyer said.
Just two months after he began losing weight, Meyer was running five miles. In the spring of 2009, he entered his first race, running the 10k at the Redbud Classic.
Two weeks later, he ran the half marathon in Oklahoma City.
The next year, he accomplished the goal he'd set when he started losing the weight — to run a marathon by the time he turned 18 — at the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.
“The moment I crossed the finish line, my life completely changed,” Meyer said. “That was my proudest moment through this process.
“I remembered how much it took me to lose all the weight and knew that I could do anything. I was unstoppable.”
Sunday, he'll run for the second time in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.
Training this year is a bit different, as he's worked out with Sara Williams, who will run her first marathon this weekend.
But it has helped Meyer stick with the training this time around.
Twice since his first marathon finish, Meyer has signed up for a marathon before dropping out.
“I think it's because I didn't have that accountability,” Meyer said. “Now, training with her, I feel like a failure if I don't train and get myself ready for it.”
While the confidence that his transformed image certainly helped, the knowledge that he had been through that much work to accomplish his goals boosted Meyer just as much.
“I instantly became a goal-setter,” he said.
Meyer started a student council at Forgan High School.
This year, as a senior, he's the student council president, the senior class president and the yearbook editor, among other responsibilities.
He's planning on going to the University of Oklahoma next year and majoring in international business.
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