29 Dashes and counting

COEUR d'ALENE - Monday, Richard Ochoa was feeling sick.

Tuesday, he was really, really sick. As a dog. Stomach flu. Bad scene.

"I could hardly get out of bed," he said. "I just felt terrible."

Which meant he sure as heck couldn't walk. And as for running, forget it.

So, you wonder, what's the significance of this health report on the 71-year-old Ochoa?

Just this: The streak was in jeopardy

The Coeur d'Alene man has been at the starting line for all 28 Spring Dashes. Number 29 is on Sunday.

"I was worried," he said.

But also determined.

By Wednesday, he was feeling better. Thursday, he went for a walk. Friday, he was up and about in his home, grinning with the same spirit he has displayed over a lifetime.

He'll be there for the Dash's 10 a.m. start in front of Coeur d'Alene Mines on Front Avenue.

After all, he has to defend the title he claimed last year when he was first in the 70 and older age group in a time of 59 minutes, 1 second. He'll be walking, mostly, maybe mixing in a dash of running here and there.

"If I have to crawl, I'm going to do it," Ochoa said with a broad smile. "I will be there for Spring Dash."

No reason to ever doubt, really.

This is a man who has completed 29 straight Coeur d'Alene marathons and will go once more on May 29. This is a guy who has finished 29 Bloomsdays and will give it another go around on May 1.

Nothing, not a bad back, aching Achilles, sore shin or hurting hip, has turned him into a spectator. He is as dependable as spring rain in North Idaho.

"I'll walk a couple miles, just to get my legs moving," he said Friday.

Ochoa, a runner since he turned 42, does the Dash year after year for a simple reason: "It's local. I just enjoy the local races. Spring Dash has always been a fun race."

The early Dash years were the best, he said.

The now-defunct North Idaho Road Runners group, of which Ochoa was a member, was the organizer. Rosauers and First Federal Bank were sponsors. There were prizes like bikes and tents. Runners, some years 3,000 strong, were treated to hot dogs, hamburgers and what seemed an endless pile of muffins and oranges and bananas after the race. There were tables covered with cups of Gatorade.

It's different now.

"They give you water," he said, chuckling.

He recalled breaking 35 minutes for the five-mile race just once, and said he has never tripped or gotten lost on the course.

"Only the front runners get lost, and that was never me," Ochoa said, laughing.

Over the years, he carefully kept the Spring Dash T-shirts, amassing a colorful collection that fills rows of dresser drawers in his home. Friday, he had them all on display.

He noted that his very first Dash shirt from that 1983 inaugural run is to this day nearly new.

"It's never been washed," he said proudly. "I've worn it a couple times. I never sweated in it. It still doesn't need to be washed."

Still, probably couldn't hurt.