To some, he is known as the Albino Kenyan.
To some, he is known as the Albino Kenyan.
While it may be a fun nickname given to John Howerton by Sean “Peaman” Pagett, and often conjures up a few laughs by those who know him well, for the past year, transitioning his body into a fast moving, long-distance running machine is all that Howerton has been thinking of.
The 37-year old three-time Hawaii Ultraman World Championship finisher has set his sights high to reach a goal most athletes could only dream of — competing in the men’s marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
“I definitely think I can run in the Olympic trials by 2019,” Howerton said at Sunday’s Peas on Earth Biathlon event. “But I won’t focus on the marathon until 2019 because I need to get my leg speed up. Until then, I’ll just be doing half marathons.”
USA Track &Field recently announced qualifying “A” and “B” standards for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the marathon.
For the men, a qualifying “A” standard for the 26.2-mile distance is a finish time of 2 hours and 15 minutes, while the “B” standard is set at a slightly slower time of 2:19. To put it into perspective, one would need to average a steady running pace of at least 5:18 per mile (or faster), and do it for 26.2 miles!
Those wishing to qualify will need to compete on a USATF certified marathon course during the qualifying window from September 1, 2017 till January 19, 2020.
Howerton says that while nothing is concrete yet, he is utterly optimistic and plans to compete at a qualifying marathon trials event in Eugene, Oregon. And luckily, Howerton will not be alone on his Olympic journey as all plans are discussed with his mentor, friend, and two-time Olympic trials qualifier, Allen Wagner.
“Allen is someone who I can bounce my ideas and training plans off of,” Howerton said. “He’s been to the trials twice and is a 2:17 marathoner. He graduated from Konawaena High School and we are the same age. Like me, he is also hoping to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics as a 40-year-old.”
But until then, Howerton says that he will continue to compete in local running races and monthly Peaman events to build his leg speed, like at Sunday’s Peas on Earth Biathlon.
With most of the island’s youth who typically dominate the swim portion of every Peaman Biathlon away competing in the State Long Course Age Group Swimming Championships in Maui, the event finally gave the adults a chance to shine.
The event featured a ½-mile swim in beautiful Kailua Bay followed by a 3.5-mile run over the steamy pavement of Alii Drive, and also a shorter LavaKids Pea Wee Course — a 200-yard swim and 1-mile run.
First to exit Kaiakeakua Beach in the long course individual race for first was multiple Hawaii Ironman World Championship finisher, Jose Graca, who was followed by Peaman.
After months of rehab from a surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee, Graca has been training hard in hopes to qualify for this year’s Ironman World Championship race by earning a slot at next month’s Ironman Coeur d’Alene in Idaho.
Graca, who began the run with a large cushion from the chase pack, said that he has been back to running for a few weeks now and felt great during the Peaman event until he realized that his missed the run turnaround cone.
“I didn’t know where to turn. I didn’t see the cone so I kept on running,” Graca said with a smile. “Once I got to Royal Poinciana, I realized that I must’ve gone way too far. But it’s okay, I needed to get in more run miles anyway.”
Graca’s mistake left the door wide open for Mike DeCarli and I as we began the 3.5-mile run together. But it wasn’t long before DeCarli began to slowly pull away from me.
“Today was just the last little final tune up to get a little speed work done and be ready for next weekend,” DeCarli said.
DeCarli, along with his daughter, Mercedes, and Dan Gampon, plan to compete in Sunday’s Ironman 70.3 Calgary in Canada.
As the race continued, Howerton used his quick turnover and run speed to work through the field to bridge up to DeCarli and myself.
With just over a half mile to go, Howerton passed me like a bullet and headed straight for DeCarli, who seemed to have a bullseye pinned to his bareback.
“It took a lot for me to catch Mike. I actually felt like I was blowing up a bit so I sat right behind him to tone it down,” Howerton said. “But after catching my breath, I skirted past him and he didn’t respond. I was actually relieved as I didn’t want to have to blow my brains out in a sprint finish.”
The last time spectators witnessed an epic sprint finish between the duo was at the Peaman Biathlon in May, when DeCarli just edged out Howerton with a dramatic forward lean at the finish line.
This time, DeCarli decided to let Howerton go.
“I thought maybe I could just sit with him for awhile, which I did, but he just kept pushing the pace,” DeCarli said. “And with just a week out from Calgary, it didn’t make sense for me to go for a sprint.”
Howerton claimed his second Peaman Biathlon title of the year with his finish time of 39:01.
“I was racing only myself today,” Howerton said. “I wanted to do 5:45 pace per mile run splits but it wasn’t even close. It turned out to be a 6:05 pace.”
DeCarli followed close behind in second at 39:13. I finished third overall and first in the women’s division at 39:41, with Mercedes DeCarli claiming the fourth spot with her time of 43:42.
Winning the ½-mile swim race was Michael Smith in 15:09, and Jeff Johnson topped the 3.5-mile run event in 28:17.
In the shorter LavaKids Pea Wee division of a 200-yard swim and 1-mile run, Layla Gagnon claimed top honors with her time of 15:50.
Not too far behind was an exciting race between eight-year old Conlan Okagi and Goose Gagnon. Okagi used his fast turnover to outsprint Gagnon by seven seconds to finish ahead — 17:10 to 17:17, respectively.
Team Juice Box won the Pea Wee Split Peas relay title in 22:42, with Riley Bergin topping the 200-yard swim in 8:37, and Austin Randerson winning the 1-mile run in 8:10.
As for Howerton, who has decided to retire from doing triathlons after he completes this year’s Ultraman World Championship race in November, having a nickname only symbolizes what he truly feels he’s capable of.
“It’s what Pea calls me,” Howerton laughed of his Albino Kenyan nickname. “Though I’d rather be called Johnny Bananas.”