John Kern has never won a marathon, or a race of comparable distance for that matter.
And it does not matter, for running is more about the places traveled and the sights seen and Kern is about to complete a “run around the world” so to speak.
“By my count I have run 68 lifetime marathons,” Kern said. “I never entered a marathon, never ran a marathon that I did not finish. That I did not do the best that I could do that day. In my view, I won them all.”
On March 2, Kern will compete in the Tokyo marathon, completing his list of the Six World Marathons, an accomplishment he began pursuing in 2018 after completing his 50th marathon in 50 states.
Kern said, “I thought, ‘Now what do I do?’ Of course, I run all the World Majors!”
The start of that list had already included Boston, Chicago and New York, which Kern completed as part of his 50 states. Remaining were Berlin, London and Tokyo.
These races feature 30,000 to 50,000 participants and big-name contestants and prize money.
“They let the rest of us run behind them after they start,” Kern said.
In 2020, Kern applied and was accepted into the London Marathon. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the race was postponed and only allowed elite participants; the mass participation event was canceled.
In 2022, Kern got entry into the Berlin Marathon for Sept. 25 and soon after the London Marathon for Oct. 2, just a week apart.
He had run consecutive marathons before as a member of the Marathon Maniacs running in Jackson, Mississippi, on a Saturday and Mobile, Alabama, on a Sunday.
With airfare and arrangements totaling nearly $15,000 Kern was committed until a positive COVID test slowed his pace.
“I took care of myself and didn’t cancel anything,” he said. “And I tested negative five days later. But it hit me hard, my goal became finishing both marathons and trying to enjoy them. And that is what I did.”
He finished Berlin in five hours and 23 minutes and London in 5:18.
“I was what is known in the marathon circles as a tourist,” he said. “I took in the scenic, 26.2 miles in Berlin. I stopped for a picture at ‘Checkpoint Charlie,’ among other sites. In London I got my picture with a bobby and Big Ben in the background. And, yes, that is a 12-minute pace, some runners might not consider it running, but I finished, I enjoyed myself and I met many amazing people along the way.”
He may also be fulfilling a childhood dream of being an athlete.
Kern said he grew up in a poor farming family in rural northern Minnesota. A smoking and drinking household. He never participated in sports, as chores consumed his life.
“But I would go for a run through the hayfields and find great joy,” he said.
His father settled on being a dairy farmer and at age 13 Kern, the eldest boy, would have to do most of the fieldwork.
“In the mornings, I would fetch cows for milking before I caught the bus,” he said. “And yes, it was a mile down the ditch bank road to the bus stop. Every evening after school and morning and evening on weekends I would be doing the milking. My father had a yardstick that he would bang on the ceiling below my room if I did not get up in the mornings. I still graduated on the honor roll, but it would be years before I would get the chance to further my education.”
He earned a mechanical engineering degree at Minnesota’s St. Cloud Tech College and was recruited to Cedar Rapids, Iowa but did not like the heat and humidity.
He came to Juneau in 1976, earning a business management degree from the University of Alaska Southeast, worked as a land use planner, and then for Capital Transit for the City and Borough of Juneau for over 30 years.
“My father’s inability to find anything in life that he could stay with, I am sure, created a need in me for stability,” Kern said.
He always like to run. But family, work and prior years of smoking all prevented something more.
A challenge issued by a local employee health program coordinator, Carol White, of exercising for a half hour was a wake-up call for Kern.
“I just took off running from the house one morning,” he said. “I made it a block. I worked hard that summer, developed a pace, read up on some running books and soon I was running for a half hour. Of course, once you can run for a half hour, you can do a 5K, right? And, running a race introduced me to all the great people involved in the Southeast Road Runners, now Juneau Trail and Road Runners, our local running club. I also had an accomplished runner for a neighbor, Pat Leamer. I thought I was doing great, but Pat would come running back to the neighborhood and I would ask him where he had run; ‘Oh, to Fritz Cove,’ or some other far-gone place. I couldn’t believe you could run that far. Pat had run some marathons, 26.2 miles…wow! So, of course, I set out to do a marathon. It took several years, running, reading, new shoes, all that running gear. The local running club was always a big part of my program. Racing to improve speed, distance and pace, and all the encouragement from my fellow runners.”
In 2002, Kern ran his first 26.2-mile race, the Frank Maier Marathon.
“My goal was to complete it in less than four hours. I hadn’t run more than 20 miles to that point. I read Galloway, the legendary distance running coach, and I followed the Penguin (Runner’s World Magazine), the champion of the less competitive runners. I set time goals and ran for two hours, then two and a half, and I knew I could run for four hours at some speed. Pat and I did the Chilkoot Trail the weekend before the marathon, a great way to relieve the anxiety and keep up the conditioning. I finished my first marathon just a minute under my goal.”
Kern noted he is mostly a “social runner.”
“Most people consider running and runners pretty competitive, and it is,” he said. “But distance running in a large event is always a social event if you’re somewhere near the back. Spend three to four hours running a marathon and you will surely make a new friend. Someone else is doing your pace, someone else is needing some encouragement to keep going. My favorite was a young man that had just completed boot camp. We met up at about mile 12 in the New Orleans Marathon and finished together. In Deadwood, South Dakota, a course that rose over a thousand feet in the first 13 miles, I ran shoulder-to-shoulder with another runner to the top. In Shiprock, New Mexico, home of the Navajo Nation, I shared the course with many of the residents participating and gained an insight from those for whom running is a part of their culture. You can experience so much more when you are not up front.”
Kern said he came to competitive running in the early 2000s when club and competitive running was becoming more inclusive.
“There was greater recognition of ‘age group’ goals,” he said. “You could be competitive with your peers. Maybe you could even walk? I took on the Southeast Roadrunners Club in 2014 as president. I had overheard a conversation among club runners as to whether a 10-minute-per-mile pace was too slow to be considered running. I took that as my directive to change things. We increased membership greatly in the following years. More events, greater variety, and I encouraged the race directors to keep the finish gates open until the last runner was through.”
Kern stated, “I was never the fastest runner. I did have at least eight Boston Qualifiers, placed in the top three in my age group in 17 states. I believe I am the first Alaskan to do all 50 states from Alaska. It was a journey of 16 years with so many amazing friends and fellow runners along the way.”
Kern has spent most of his lifetime with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder of the thyroid. When training for the Berlin Marathon, he discovered his body was no longer able to assimilate Vitamin B12, a related autoimmune disorder called pernicious anemia. Recently he was diagnosed with the early stages of prostate cancer.
“This past week I set out on a run with nowhere in mind, and before I was done had gone 13 miles in the cold and the rain,” he said. “That is what running means to me.”
Tokyo is considered the most difficult marathon to gain entry in the world. In 2023, there were over 300,000 applications for 30,000 spots. More in ’24.
Kern had put in a lottery entry in 2022, ’23 and ’24 with no luck.
He instead gained entry through Marathon Tours, the world’s largest running events tour operator. He plans to stay three weeks in Tokyo, well above his three-day minimum for the 50 states sites. So far expenses are above $12,000. Kern believes he has spent over $100,000 over 16 years for his 50 states completion.
“My training has begun,” Kern said. “I did 13 miles this past Tuesday. I believe I will be the first Alaskan to have completed all Six World Majors as an Alaskan resident.”
But with running, there is always an unforeseen.
Recently Sydney, Australia, was announced as the Seventh World Marathon to be included in 2025.
“Somehow I think I will keep going,” Kern said. “I have never been to Australia. Cape Town, South Africa, is also in the process of becoming a major. And I think Rio de Janeiro will be next. Eventually I will have done every continent.”
And there is a club for that.
For those marathon enthusiasts who want to complete a 26.2-mile race in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica
Said Kern, “Sometimes I think, ‘Can’t I be done?’ I think I know the answer to that.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
