SEQUIM — The goal is 78.6 miles over three days.
Sequim runner Chuck Milliman is on the second day today of his marathon of a lifetime.
He will celebrate his 78th birthday Monday when he attempts to conquer and complete the third leg.
He figures by his third day of 26.2-mile runs on the streets of Sequim and on the treadmill at his athletic sponsor, Anytime Fitness, it will be all about mind over matter.
“The first two days, I can do this,” he said confidently.
“The third day,” he said with a smile, “I’ll see how it goes.”
Benefits youth group
A retired Sequim minister, Milliman is running to raise money for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, which has facilities in Sequim and Port Angeles.
As of Friday, he had raised about $1,300 in pledges. He is accepting any other tax-deductible donations to benefit the organization that serves more than 300 youths in Clallam County.
It is only coincidental, Milliman said, that the run coincides with the Boys & Girls Clubs’ biggest fundraiser of the year, a dinner and auction called “Rumble in the Jungle” that was held at the club in Sequim on Saturday night.
Milliman explained that he thought he could put his senior running skills to good use and a good cause.
“I asked around about charities, and many people said the Boys & Girls Clubs,” he said.
He is alternating 3.5 miles on the Anytime Fitness treadmill, then running 5.7 miles around Sequim three times until he reaches 26.2 miles each day.
His running path from Anytime Fitness is on Old Olympic Highway west to Fifth Avenue, south to Washington Street, east back to Hurricane Coffee and back to Anytime Fitness on North Sequim Avenue, a 5.7-mile loop.
“That’s easy to do,” he said. “It’s level. There’s no hill.”
‘Great example for kids’
Stephen Rosales, special events director at the Boys & Girls Clubs unit in Sequim, praised Milliman for his support.
“Chuck is a great example for kids,” Rosales said. “It’s great for them to be able to see what a lifetime of physical activity can do for a person.”
“You get a sense of accomplishment and of doing something by yourself,” Milliman said, explaining why he has been road-training for years and has run 57 marathons since he was 38.
He said a 65-year-old friend introduced him to the sport and inspired him to run a Trail’s End marathon in Seaside, Ore. He ran that marathon annually for 25 consecutive years.
During all those years, he remembers only one knee injury, which set him back a month.
Not even a blister
Otherwise, he’s had not even a foot blister.
“God’s taken care of me. I just have a good body,” he said with a laugh.
When he lived in Oregon City, Ore., he ran 51 miles for his 51st birthday without stopping, taking him 10 hours and 36 minutes.
Milliman has lived in Sequim with his wife, Shirley, since 1991, when they moved from Oregon City.
A minister since 1967, he served as pastor at Church of God at Fir Street and Brown Road until his retirement in 1999.
He completed his most recent distance run last year, the Olympic Discovery Marathon, on the Olympic Discovery Trail between Sequim and Port Angeles, finishing in 5 hours, 33 minutes.
He has been training at an average of eight miles a day, running every other day, and was taking it easier last week.
He competed in August in the Olympic Peninsula Senior Games, where he took first place in six events, including the pole vault, long jump, high jump and 50-, 100- and 400-meter dashes.
He has also competed in the World Masters Track and Field championships, where he placed second in pole vault.
Bungee jumping at 69
Milliman chuckles when he talks about trying bungee jumping at age 69.
“We are so proud of Chuck,” said Jay Bryan, owner of Anytime Fitness in Rock Plaza off Sequim Dungeness Way and Old Olympic Highway.
“While we don’t advocate such extreme exercise endeavors for the average person, we are happy to be involved with such a motivational character.”
Extreme athleticism runs in his family.
Milliman’s grandson, Jason Henrie, ran from the bottom of the Grand Canyon, eight miles of treacherous switchback trail, to the rim, then another 92 miles to the 14,400-foot summit of Mount Humphreys Peak near Flagstaff, Ariz., known as the Hole to Hump Run.
Saying the toughest part of long-distance running is getting motivated go out and run, Milliman said, “If I can just convince my mind, I can do it.
Reading a running magazine to see how others conquer the athletic challenges in their lives is one simple motivational technique he uses.
“Mentally, as I am getting older, it seems harder to get started, but once I get started and go the first three miles, it’s OK,” he said.
“I think the mind is a lot stronger than the body when it comes to endurance.”
To contribute to Milliman’s run, phone him at 360-775-0477 or by e-mail at milliman@olypen.com.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
