VOLCANO — The mission is almost complete for Greg Rouson, of Virginia, who finished the 2nd annual Ohia Lehua half-marathon in two hours, 24 minutes, 14 seconds on Sunday at Volcano Village.
It was his 49th half-marathon of the 50 he plans on completing. Rouson, 42, has also run a half-marathon in Washington, D.C., too. He’s finished 148 half-marathons, including about 97 in his home state, where it is illegal to tickle a woman. (Fun fact, courtesy of Google.)
After he finished, Rouson had to sit in his rental car, take a breather and update his Instagram “gcrouson” to fill in his followers. He can relax until Wednesday, the day he flies to Alaska to complete his 50th half-marathon mission.
“It was rough,” he said. “At some points, I had to dig deep. It was hilly and has elevation. In a half-marathon, you find out what kind of person you are. You have to go out and set to finish a race.”
Rouson is 6 feet 1 and looks athletic, and it’s not hard not to imagine him as a basketball, football, or volleyball star in high school. But he wasn’t.
“When I was a kid, I wasn’t that tall,” he said. “I was into martial arts and discovered I had an aptitude and talent for it.”
He wasn’t really into the running scene, often did occasional running, but that all changed when he went to Old Dominion (1997-2001) for college, where he was in the Army ROTC program.
After college, he joined the Army and did a tour of Iraq. In the Army, you run whether you like it or not. When he got out, Rouson took a five-year break from running.
In 2010, he started training to get in shape and by 2012 he was full speed ahead with obstacle course competitions and 5K runs. Then in 2013, Rouson, who’s a computer systems designer, did his first half-marathon and hasn’t stopped.
He got super serious when he saw the Half Fanatics website, a site dedicated to half-marathon runners.
Rouson even ran into a club member at Volcano. (Greg didn’t know your last name, Danielle, of Oregon, but he appreciated your aloha spirit and the cupcake you gave him. There’s a Danielle Shown, who finished in 2:40:23. She’s the only Danielle listed so odds are that’s your friend, Greg).
“I started out in 2015 and been in every race since,” Rouson said. “I saw their photos and thought it was cool. She’s on her second round. We have a lot of runners.”
Rouson figures he’s spent $5,000 to spend six days on the Big Island but doesn’t put a price tag on making unforgettable memories.
“You have to live life. That’s what matters,” he said. “I don’t put a dollar value on the experience.”
His best race was the Flying Pig in Cincinnati, where it’s run in May. He did that half-marathon in 2015.
“They roll out the red carpet for you,” he said. “It’s well run.”
When he does relax, Rouson’s hobby is photo editing.
“It’s my Zen,” he said. “I can get lost in it, fine-tuning stuff.”
When he watched the Olympics, Rouson was inspired by Olympic gold medalist Eliud Kipchoge, of Kenya, who finished in 2:08.38 for his second straight Games medal.
“I liked watching the Olympians, their tenacity, their athleticism, their sportsmanship. You could feel it,” he said. “It was inspiring. If they can do it, there’s nothing stopping me. I’ve never not finished a race. That’s the solider in me. If you have to crawl, you crawl to finish the mission.”
After he finishes the Alaska half-marathon, there’s no stopping Rouson, who will keep running to inspire those Army buddies wounded in action.
“It was my first time in Hilo,” he said. “Hopefully, it won’t be my last.”