‘Extraordinary’

There was a time, try 20 years, Dave Jones was a two-pack-a-day smoker.

That time is gone.

Jones became the first and only person to run a full marathon on all seven continents and in all 50 states in less than one year when he covered 26.2 miles at Smith Family Garden on Thursday.

When he finished in about seven hours, he was greeted by a small crowd with cheers, high fives, hugs and kisses from his wife.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling.

Asked how he felt, the 41-year-old said, “It’s a long time coming.”

In the final few miles, as he closed in, his emotions took over and he became a bit misty eyed.

“It feels extraordinary,” Jones said.

His accomplishment highlighted the many achievements of the endurance runners and walkers taking part in the four-day, Mainly Marathon race series on Kauai for the second year. There’s a 50k, marathon, half marathon each day, with today and tomorrow on Ke Ala Hele Makelae, and Sunday back at Smith’s.

There was 73-year-old Larry Macon, who was running marathon number 2,011 after taking up running when he was 52.

The San Antonio man travels the country and runs about 200 marathons a year because he enjoys meeting people who share his passion.

“Marathon runners are a special breed,” he said. “They’re optimistic, they set goals, they know they can do it and they accomplish it.”

Thursday, he felt “fantastic” as he ran the 1.64-mile, out-and-back course 16 times.

“Life is good,” he said.

And there was Patricia Klein of Southern California, going after her 50/50/50 goal: To celebrate her 50th birthday, she’s running 50 50k races.

This isn’t out of her range. In September, she ran nine consecutive ultramarathons in eight states.

The race at Smith’s was number 43, but Klein wasn’t all that happy with her performance, noting she usually runs free and easy.

“I’m having an ugly race. I usually run without pain,” she said.

But she, and the others — some limping, leaning, and hobbling with knee braces — kept going thanks to the boundless spirit and energy from the group of about 70 runners and walkers, many retired.

They are friends as well as marathoners. They constantly encourage each other. They offer fist pumps and hand slaps. They shout “Good job,” and “Keep going.” They wear humorous outfits — one man wore devil horns, another wore an unbuttoned aloha shirt — and they like to joke around.

“You’re almost there,” someone shouted when the second wave of runners started at 7 a.m.

A few celebratory shots of whiskey helped, too.

Kauai’s Kamika Smith ran his 162nd half marathon on Thursday, starting with the first wave at 4:30 a.m. He was smiling and enthusiastic as he walked on the garden’s paved path through a spectacular lush green setting with lagoons, bridges and peacocks.

“It’s great to see everybody on the course, to have so many people here,” he said.

Smith plans to complete a half marathon each day of the four-day series.

“I’m just walking it so I can get through it and enjoy the company,” he said.

Jones, from Kentucky, almost always had company on his world-record run. He’s talkative and didn’t mind sharing his story as he went along.

After giving up smoking, whenever he felt the urge for nicotine, he got up and ran, which was unusual for him because he was never a runner. Smith was an executive in a coal contracting company and traveled often — good money, but he wasn’t happy and he later walked away from that career.

“I decided I needed to make a change in life,” he said.

Jones completed his first marathon in April 2013 and finished some full Ironmans, too. He dropped his weight from about 280 to 195.

But he had bigger plans.

Earlier this year, Jones became one of only four people to run official, public marathons on all seven continents in less than seven days.

After taking the month of February to rest, he ran more marathons and ultramarathons through the spring, all in different states. At the end of summer, he realized that, with planning and good fortune, he had a chance at what he called, “The Eternal Endurance 50/7/365 Challenge.”

He, his wife Kristin and their three children lived off savings during their journey, “burning through money with a blowtorch,” he said, laughing.

But every penny, every step, every plane trip, was worth it, he said.

Jones, at 240 pounds and size 15 shoes, is not your prototypical runner, but he knows what it takes to travel, run 26.2 miles, and recover to do it again and again.

“I’m not trying to be fast. I’m not as focused on trying to keep lean,” he said. “I’m more focused on recovering from rapid fire marathons.”

Jones started that new career, too.

He founded the company Eternal Endurance, is an ultra-distance coach and motivational speaker. He plans to write a book about his world-record running experience.

His celebration plans were pretty tame — just hang out with his wife and friends who came to Kauai for the historic moment.

“I really enjoy the people who made all this possible,” he said. “Fantastic support. This can’t be done without the help of my wife.”

Wife Kristin, who ran her first half marathon Thursday, said her husband’s “iron will” is his key to success.

“When he sets his mind to something, he does it. He’s an all-in kind of guy,” she said.

Friend Kristina Funseth, of Minneapolis, has run almost 15 marathons with Jones.

“He’s amazing,” she said. “He just is a very positive person and you have to have a positive attitude.”

Ironically, Jones hates running.

“I don’t run for the love of running. I run because I like to set big goals and achieve them,” he said. “The harder the goal, the better it is.”