From Falcon cross country to a world-record run, with twins along for the ride
Running is a tradition in the Williams family. Nathanael Williams ran cross country and distance track for Sierra Lutheran from 2008 to 2012, and his mom, Robin Williams, still coaches our Falcon cross country team today.
After SLHS, Nathanael went on to the Colorado School of Mines, where he competed in cross country and indoor and outdoor track. He was part of the Mines team that won the national cross country championship in 2015, and he earned his master’s degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering in 2018.
Today Nathanael lives in Lancaster, South Carolina, with his wife, Molly, and their three children. He’s a metallurgist by day and a coach in the afternoons, and he is still running. After working his way back from an injury that began in 2022, he set an unusual goal: the Guinness World Record for the fastest half marathon pushing a double stroller.
“I felt that God was going to allow me to run this far, but not for myself,” Nathanael says.
He trained for months with his twins, Sage and James, in the stroller. On November 15, 2025, at the Novant Health Charlotte Half Marathon, the race director let him start on the front line. Aiming for 5:38 per mile or faster, he pushed hard through the first half to bank time before the hills. He finished in 1:12:57, more than a minute faster than the listed record of 1:14:20.
And the twins, not quite 11 months old? Bundled in layers under a weather shield on a 45-degree morning, they slept through much of it.
Nathanael is quick to share the credit. “Ultimately, this was a family effort,” he says, noting that Molly was chasing their three-year-old around the course during the race. “She makes daily sacrifices to her ideal schedule to take care of our family.”
Nathanael was raised by a Falcon coach, Robin Williams, who is still at it here at Sierra Lutheran. Now he coaches young runners himself, and Molly is a cross country coach too. That’s a full circle worth bragging about. Congratulations, Nathanael, Molly, Sage, James, and big sibling too!
Now it’s your turn. Parents and grads, we’d love to hear your story. Brag on Your Grad here, or contact Susie Berger at sberger@slhs.com.
