Photo By Sgt. Brian Johnson | Sgt. Brian Johnson, from Blacklick, takes a "selfie" with the Marine Corps War...... read more read more
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – I always wanted to run a marathon. I could never find the ambition to do it.
After 18 years in the military, my life changed almost overnight in early 2012. My wife describes it best.
“It’s like you woke up one morning and said, 'I want to go run a half marathon,' and then just did it."
If you were to sum up my fitness journey in one sentence, that would be it.
At the end of 2012, I accomplished that goal. By October, 2013, I accomplished the goal of running my first complete marathon. By October, 2014, I had run in my sixth marathon.
My name is Sgt. Brian Johnson. I am a Public Affairs Print Journalist with the Columbus-based 196th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. On Feb. 28, 2015, I retired from the Ohio Army National Guard after 21 years of service.
I started working toward running his first half marathon almost three years ago. I haven’t been a person who has always enjoyed running, or even ran at all.
I began running when I was in Iraq on my second combat tour in 2010. My boss came into the office one day and told me that I will be running in a 5k (3.1 miles) race that weekend.
It was from that point that I became a runner, but not immediately.
I slowly started running from there. I ran a bit when we got home from Iraq later that year, but didn't really start again until the middle of 2012.
Two people really caused me to get back into running, 1st Sgt. Gil Scroggy and Staff Sgt. Brad Payne.
“They were two people that I really respect that helped to motivate me and make me want to start in earnest. I think more than anything, I was afraid of disappointing them.”
The other reason I started running was because I was struggling to meet the Army standards for the two-mile run for the Army Physical Fitness Test. I would frequently miss the standard by two-and-a-half minutes.
What does missing the standard do for a Soldier? It prevents them from getting a promotion to the next rank, getting an award and it could cause them to be involuntarily discharged from the Service. At that point, I had 18 years of service in the Ohio National Guard.
“The last thing is what scared me the most,” Johnson said. “I did not want to be so close to retiring, to only get involuntarily discharged for not meeting the standards.”
So, in the middle of 2012, working two jobs with up to 15 hour days and with no motivation to want to go run during the week, I tried a different way to begin my fitness journey. I entered the Columbus 10k (6.2 miles) in June of 2012.
“I entered the Columbus 10k as a different way to try to get fit. I figured if other people were around to help motivate me, that I could maybe do the race and get a good workout in,” Johnson said.
With no preparation, and on an extremely hot day that June afternoon, I paid the $25 entry fee into the race.
I knew that I couldn't run six miles, so I decided to do a different approach to the race. To get more out of the race, I brought some of his Army equipment to race in. Adding an extra 60 pounds from body armor, a full ruck sack and boots, I started the race.
“I finished dead last at 1:45 walking the entire time. The thing that I find funny was, the next closest finishers were five minutes in front of me. I had blisters on my feet for a week.”
It was from that point, after completing seven weeks of military obligations for the summer of 2012, I started my exercise routine in earnest.
Over the next eight weeks, I would enter into one to two competitive races a weekend. I completed numerous 5K races, sometimes twice a weekend, two 10K races and a 20K (12.4 miles) race.
In late October 2012, I finally ran in my first half marathon, the Columbus Marathon and mini-marathon.
Why do that race in such a short period of time? It was about a personal goal.
“I always had a goal to run a marathon. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to complete all 26 miles of a full marathon, so I decided to just try a half marathon.”
So, with 18,000 of my closest friends, I ran in the 2012 Columbus Marathon completing the race in 2:41:15.
With time left to go in the year, I kept running, participating in another half dozen races before doing his final race of the year, my second half marathon at Cedar Point.
“I wanted to do that race just to prove to myself that my completing my first half marathon was not a fluke.”
By the end of the 2012 racing season, Johnson had competed in 20 different races for a distance of 99.54 miles ran.
In early 2013, I set my next goal. I wanted to run a marathon by the end of the year.
There are a lot of training plans that are out there for how to run a marathon. I didn't follow any of them.
Over the course of 2013, I never ran more than 13 miles until a month before the race. Even then, the longest that I ran was 15 miles. I drove to the next closest town and ran the country roads home. It took me just over three-and-a-half hours.
On race day that October, gathering again with 18,000 of my closest friends, I ran in the Columbus Marathon. It was a fun experience. It took me five hours and 47 minutes to complete.
It was the longest, most painful experience of my life. By the time I was done, I could barely walk. I had walked multiple miles of the race. The next day, I could barely move. It took me almost a week to recover.
As much as the marathon pained me, I really enjoyed the experience.
Almost a week later, I was sent to a military school at Fort Meade, Md., just outside of Baltimore.
While I was there, I fell into an opportunity to run in two more marathons, the Philadelphia Marathon and the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon in Delaware.
It was while I was there that I discovered the Marathon Maniacs.
What is a Marathon Maniac? It is a club for people who enjoy running marathons. To qualify, a person needs to run either two marathons within a 16-day time-frame or three marathons within a 90 day time-frame. I ran three in 47 days.
I became such a Marathon Maniac, that I ran three more marathons in 2014, for a total of six marathons between 2013 and 2014.
The highlight for me was running the Columbus Marathon again, and then running the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington a week later for marathon six.
That was the hardest running experience that I had ever endured. I knew I was in trouble when my leg started tightening up in the first mile. I also didn’t realize that Washington was that hilly.
My mile 12, I was walking more than I should have been. My goal was to get to mile 20 before the cutoff time. I made it with 30 minutes to spare. By mile 23, I was so tired that I ended up walking most of the last three miles in.
The most emotional part of the race was getting the finishers medal in the shadow of the Marine Corps War Memorial.
Because of all of the running that I had been doing, I was able to eventually meet the Army Standards in early 2013.
“I went from running a 5k in 36 minutes to running it in 29-and-a-half minutes. I have taken 30 minutes off of my marathon time from the first time that I ran one. I also was able to take off the two minutes that I needed for the run.”
All of that running had an added benefit, weight loss. Over the course of 18 months into 2013, I lost 50 pounds.
“I had to buy all new clothes because things stopped fitting me.”
Are running long distances fun? They can be.
“Fun is a relative term. It can be rewarding knowing that you have completed something as difficult as a 26 mile run.”
| Date Taken: | 01.07.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.25.2015 09:17 |
| Story ID: | 161258 |
| Location: | COLUMBUS, OHIO, US |
| Hometown: | COLUMBUS, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 164 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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