No pain, no marathon

COEUR d'ALENE - In the midst of a seven-mile training walk/run on Monday, Richard Ochoa answers a call to his cell phone.

Does he have time for an interview as he goes through a few final workouts for Sunday's Coeur d'Alene Marathon? It will be his 31st straight Cd'A Marathon, and well, that's worth talking about.

Sure, he says.

The first question, how are you feeling, draws a chuckle from the 72-year-old Coeur d'Alene man.

"I got pains all over the place," he says.

Where, exactly?

Well, there's the lower right leg.

And the left ankle.

And the top of the left foot.

There's that chronic hip issue.

Now, the right leg is causing some grief, too.

An X-ray didn't reveal the problem.

"It feels like a shin split," Ochoa said.

Doesn't really matter.

"Besides them, my body feels great," he adds with another laugh.

Known as Coeur d'Alene's Marathon Man, Ochoa just keeps running and running and ... well, make that walking and walking, these days.

The leg speed has disappeared over the years. The body's a little more banged up. But the heart, the will, the desire, are still there. Absolutely they are.

He won't quit. No way. They'll have to drag him off the course before he'll be turned back from finishing marathon No. 38.

After all, we're talking about the man who has also run every Spring Dash in Coeur d'Alene. That's right, he has finished all 30 of the five-milers.

"I'm going to do it anyway," he says of Sunday's marathon. "I've got 30, and I don't want to spoil my record."

To prepare, he has done plenty of walking, adding in some running, starting from his Coeur d'Alene home. Depending on the day's distance - he has gone as far as 18 miles - he follows a course that takes him through neighborhoods, along arterials and around blocks. It's safe to say people know him.

He also mixes in some swimming, some stationary biking, the elliptical machine at the gym.

Like last year, he'll start with the early birders, and hopes to again win his age group and finish in around 5 hours, 30 minutes.

"If I start with the marathon, there will be nobody there when I get in," Ochoa says, laughing.

He jokes that last year, he had no competition.

"I think I was the only one in my age group," he says.

Ochoa speaks with pride of his grandson, Pete Negron.

The 9-year-old beat grandpa in the Spring Dash by a few minutes, and will be in the 5K at the marathon.

"If you saw him, you would see that it's no wonder he runs so fast," Ochoa says.

Just last year, Pete was learning how to swim. The other day, he and Richard went to the pool, slipped on some fins, and hopped in for a match race.

"He beat me down and back," Ochoa says.

But running, Ochoa adds, is what Pete may do best. He's a natural.

Like grandfather, like son.