Willow runner gearing up

WILLOW — The man now known as the “Alaskan badass” for his 100-plus-mile feats on foot is on the hunt for another race to top off his already jam-packed resume.

A few weeks after Runner’s World magazine gave him the title in early March of last year, Alaska Dispatch News ran a story on Dave Johnston, describing the Willow runner as “a smiling, attractive, personable, beer-swilling Alaskan badass.”

It’s true.

In the last 10 months alone, Johnston has run more than 1,000 miles in just a handful of events, most notably the Susitna 100, the 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invite, the Boston Marathon and Six Days in the Dome. Finishes in the Resurrection Pass 50- and 100-mile races and in the Crow Pass Crossing also have been added to his endurance achievements over the years, along with more than 60 marathons.

He’s also known for downing a beer or two after and sometimes during his races, which apparently hasn’t affected his competitive pace in long-distance races.

But his most recent substantial accomplishment was the Equinox Marathon. He finished the race in 5 hours and change — not so fast for a marathoner, unless maybe he’s just run roughly 369 miles in the rain, from the University of Alaska campus in Anchorage to the campus in Fairbanks, in the five days leading up to the race.

That trek, however, is one Johnston doesn’t intend to repeat.

“It was too dangerous,” he said. “You’re just so close to those tractor trailers for days and days, and they’re literally going by you at 70 mph within a foot of you.”

Despite the “constant barrage of traffic,” and the “cold, 45-degree baths” every five minutes from vehicle splashes, Johnston said he had to run the course. Not only had he been planning the adventure for months, he really needed a long, point-to-point run after days in the Dome the month before.

“One reason for the Anchorage to Fairbanks run, other than that I really wanted to see that course on foot rather than in a car, was to exercise those demons from the six days in the Dome,” Johnston said. “I’ve never been in a situation like that, and I was kind of clueless to the tactics. It’s a lot different than having a point-to-point race.”

Johnston said he found another issue in having “almost too much support” from family, friends and fans in the small space, which sometimes made it hard to focus.

But Johnston is going to give the six-day race format another go this winter, alone.

“Just me and my body and mind (will) go pound it out for six days, no distractions,” he said.

The race he’s signed up for is a rather unique one, too; never in his 35 years of racing, he said, has he run from one year into the next.

Aravaipa Running’s “Across the Years” six-day and 72-, 48-, and 24-hour footraces will begin Dec. 28 in Phoenix, Arizona and continue through Jan. 3, 2015, giving the New Year a special significance for Johnston this year.

The Phoenix races also will be held on a 1.05-mile gravel, asphalt and concrete loop, more than four times larger than that of the Dome.

Though it may be a “pretty lofty goal” to run 600 miles in six days — a goal no U.S. American and only 10 people worldwide have reached, Johnston said — he remains optimistic.

“I think if I can get two solid months of training in, I can do it,” he said. “Things will just have to go really right.”

If they do go right, or even if they go “wrong,” chances are Johnston won’t be sore about it.

Well, at least in terms of attitude.

“I try to keep it fun,” Johnston said of his running career, though he has his “ups and downs” like anyone else.

However famous he may be, or is perceived to be by some, it’s also “easier to be a little under the radar in Alaska,” he said.

“There are not as many expectations on you when you show up to a starting line (in Alaska).”

Johnston’s easygoing personality, in a sport that is anything but easygoing — when it comes down to the terrain, the miles, the hours and the general mentality of long-distance racing, at least — might also be explained by the nature of his introduction to running.

In the 1970s, the United States experienced a road running and jogging boom that Johnston said his father took to right away. Johnston’s father was in his early 30s when 8-year-old Dave started tagging along on his 10-mile runs, staying with him for the first few miles before heading home.

Before he knew it, Dave and his two sisters were being signed up for 5- and 10-kilometer races, and each went through their middle and high schools as runners in cross country and track.

But Dave “never got to run for college,” he said. Although he “always wanted to be a star runner” as a preteen, he didn’t get into the college for which he wanted to run, and after toeing the line at a few indoor track meets at a preparatory school, he went into the military.

“I kick myself so many times for different choices, but it’s kind of just luck and fate, how you end up,” he said.

Dave said running in college would have been “an interesting stepping stone,” but any regret he may still harbor doesn’t seem too deep-seated; eventually, things worked out.

“I just had to do it all on my own,” he said. “No coaches, no nothing, just go run. It’s a lot harder to stay focused, but there’s a lot more freedom, too.”

With a family of four and a day job, however, that freedom is sometimes hard to come by.

“I think the hardest thing right now,” Dave said, “is juggling life to get in the training that I need to do.”

Fortunately for Dave — and his family — his employers and co-workers at Geneva Woods have been very flexible, clearing his commitments when they can to make racing possible.

“One thing that nobody every mentions is how supportive my work is of my running,” he said. “Any other job, I probably wouldn’t be able to do half the events (I do).”

It helps that his family likes to exercise outdoors, too. Dave’s wife Andrea Hambach has run many races with him, including one ITI; his son Dave Jr. likes to bike beside him on long runs; and he’s logged many miles on the stroller pushing his 1-year-old son, Miles.

After the New Year’s race, Dave still plans to run the Susitna 100, five weeks later; the Iditarod Invite, two or three weeks after that; and the Boston Marathon in April.

In order for a runner to finish all those ultra-long races in a row, he said, it’ll take more than natural gifts.

“You’re not gonna wing it,” Dave said. “It’s more than pure talent.”

His determination, he said, is what will pay off in the end; not speed.

“The most stubborn, determined people are gonna just keep fighting and win,” Dave said.

“I’ve always trained really hard but I’ve never been the fastest runner.”

As determined (or stubborn) as he may be, he still needs to be careful to not injure himself, he said.

“As I’m getting older I go and do these super long runs and something always gives out,” he said. “A knee or a foot, it’s not always the same thing.”

So he’s started using what’s called “Redcord,” a type of suspension exercise, at Northern Edge Physical Therapy in Wasilla once or twice a week, he said, and so far, it works.

“It’s a fun group,” Dave said of the therapists. “They understand what kind of goals I have.”

Dave said he plans to post updates to his Facebook page every 50 miles during the Across the Years race, a social media first for him. Supporters are encouraged to add him as a friend and follow along.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.