Trinity Hartman
Spokesman-Review
Staff writer
November 13, 2004

Gunhild Swanson ran a 100-mile race in Arizona over Halloween. The same weekend, her husband, Jack Swanson, ran a marathon in the Tri-Cities. Last weekend, the two traveled together to a marathon in Boise. Sometimes, the Swansons win their age groups. Often, they don't have a lot of competition.

Gunhild is 60 and works at Safeco Insurance in Liberty Lake. Jack is 70 and retired. Not many people their age still enter the grueling long-distance races the Swansons love.

The Spokane Valley couple will have done 13 races of 26.2 miles or farther by the end of this year.

"It's thoroughly fun," Gunhild Swanson said.

The Swansons don't have any secret to running longevity. They have willpower, decent legs and an enjoyment of the sport that they find difficult to explain.

Whenever people seem awed by their achievements, the Swansons turn the conversation to how anyone can begin running at any age and at any speed. Even if a person doesn't want to do a marathon, it's possible to get health benefits from running or walking a shorter race, like Bloomsday, Gunhild Swanson said.

They would not want to age as couch potatoes.

Running gives their bodies a freedom that transcends aches and pains and slower race times. If they go on vacation and want to take a long, grueling hike, they know their bodies will make it, Gunhild Swanson said. If they want to climb up boulders at a beach, they do it.

"We might not live a day longer than any sedentary person, but we're going to get more out of every day," Gunhild Swanson said.

The Swansons met through the running community and have been married for 18 years. They both started running in the late 1970s. While at first they both found it difficult to run short distances, it wasn't long before they were entering marathons. They've done a combined 350 races that are marathon length or longer. Plus, they run Bloomsday.

Both are lean. Gunhild, a native of Germany, is gregarious and engaging. Jack, a truck driver who spent much of his time "sitting on my rear end," started running at the age of 44. He has a laid-back style.

Both are well-known in the running community.

Ed Rockwell, 70, a retired physician who is also an avid runner, said the Swansons are good role models.

"As we age we slow down," Rockwell said.

Yet people need to remain active as they age, Rockwell said. That doesn't mean they need to run marathons, but they need to get out, even if it's only for a walk in the park.

Don Jolley was active in the running community for many years before a recent knee injury. At first, he felt depressed. Then, he got a group of people together and started walking.

Jolley has known the Swansons for many years. He said Gunhild is one of the most determined runners he knows. He also admires that Jack Swanson has kept doing marathons.

"He'll stop to take pictures. He'll talk to people. He just enjoys it and still runs a good time," Jolley said.

All winter long the Swansons will wake up early and put feet to pavement. They do this regardless of the weather.

For Gunhild, the early morning runs become "precious time."

"It's time I have for myself. Nobody can take that away from me," she said.

Jack Swanson stays motivated by the knowledge that if he doesn't train, the next race "is going to hurt."

On any given morning, Gunhild Swanson runs faster and farther than Jack. Yet they know each other's paces so intimately that they can plan a meeting place and arrive at it within minutes of each other. They often finish morning runs together at the Starbucks inside Albertsons. They get a mocha there, then walk back to their home near McDonald Elementary School.

Gunhild Swanson is happy if she runs a time of 3 hours, 35 minutes. Jack usually crosses the finish line about an hour later. He's slowed since a heel injury a few years ago, but said it doesn't matter.

Usually, the Swansons enter marathons together, even if they don't see each other for long on the course. Jack Swanson said it was hard for them to split up for the recent races. Gunhild did the Javelina Jundred ultramarathon in Arizona with other running friends from the Spokane area. She finished the race in 22 hours, 37 minutes.

Jack was second in his age group in the Tri-Cities marathon.

They have one more race to run this year. They'll do a marathon in Seattle over Thanksgiving weekend.

They're already looking forward to next year. They want to run a marathon in all 50 U.S. states. So far, they've gone to fewer than half.

While they expect to continue slowing down, they have no intention of stopping.