As Johnson clicked off the miles -- he covered them between six minutes and 6:10 -- he approached the seven-mile mark. That point off Arctic Valley Road also marked the first exchange area in the marathon relay, and what Johnson glimpsed ahead delivered a delightful discovery: The one man leading him tagged off to a teammate, which meant Johnson led solo marathoners.
"I thought, 'Oh, man, I've got to make sure I don't blow up, that I stick to the plan,' " Johnson said. "I didn't want to start chasing a (personal record). I didn't want to risk losing, because it's fun to win.
"I thought, 'Hey, I've got an exciting day here.' Then I realized, 'Hey, I've got a lot of work left here.' "
Johnson, 33, finished his labor well, was never threatened and captured the overall title in 2:42:53 on an overcast day when about 3,800 runners participated in the marathon, marathon relay, half-marathon, 5.6-miler and Youth Cup race.
Meanwhile, women's marathon winner Alexandra Swiatocha, 23, was never certain that she owned the lead. Various spectators and race officials told her during the race she was the leading woman, but she remained skeptical even through the finish line at West High. She was not sure she won until she checked results posted shortly after finishing.
Swiatocha, who is from New York but is spending a year in Anchorage with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and working at the Providence Extended Care Center, was running her second marathon. She clocked 3:06:30, which slashed 20 minutes off her previous marathon time.
"It's pretty neat,'' Swiatocha said with a laugh. "I was impressed.''
Swiatocha, who ran cross country and track at Holy Cross, where she competed in the 800 meters and heptathlon, was paced by her brother, Greg, who is visiting -- he finished 18th among men, a split-second behind his sister. Alexandra said she was doubtful about how she would finish while she was laboring through early backcountry miles on a dirt and gravel road at the base of the Chugach Mountains, but was psyched to win a 26.2-miler.
"I should just retire,'' she said, grinning.
The performance of the day came from UAA All-America runner Marko Cheseto, who blistered the half-marathon so thoroughly he smashed his own course record and the race record of former Olympian Don Clary.
Cheseto, 26, ran about the first five miles with UAA teammates, then took off and clocked 1:07.47 for 13.1 miles. That thrashed his 2009 time of 1:09:24 and topped Clary's 1995 time, run on a different course, of 1:08:18.
"That's awesome,'' said race director Michael Friess, Cheseto's coach at UAA. "That's the best half-marathon ever run in this state. I'll go on record -- Marko is going to crush the (Mayor's marathon) record next year.''
Michael Wisniewski clocked a record 2:22:29 at Mayor's last year to shatter Friess' 1987 mark of 2:24:44, and Friess wants Cheseto to attack Wisniewski's record in 2011, after wrapping his college career.
Cheseto, a Kenyan whose countrymen and Seawolves teammates seized the next four spots behind him Saturday, said he at one point kept looking behind, waiting for the pace bicyclist to catch him after a hill. His record run came a few weeks after he earned All-America status in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 at the NCAA Division II national track and field championships.
"I think it's because of training well,'' Cheseto said. "Last year was my first half-marathon. I learned I can run longer, maybe even a marathon.''
Cheseto's time Saturday was even more impressive considering that the half-marathon course is actually about 200 meters longer because of logistical considerations, Friess said.
When the marathon started at 8 a.m. at Bartlett High, the weather was brisk, clouds shrouded the Chugach Range and occasional sprinkles dropped. That weather held throughout -- a dreary day for non-runners, but divine for marathoners.
"It was absolutely perfect,'' Johnson said. "Fifty degrees, cloudy, and it sprinkled on me for a couple miles to keep me cool.''
Johnson, who finished sixth at Mayor's last year in 2:44:50, about two minutes slower than Saturday, was running his 14th career marathon and coming off two strong performances earlier this year. He won the hilly Umstead Trail Marathon in 2:54:17 while visiting his mother in North Carolina in early March and clocked a PR of 2:42:01 in the Boston Marathon in mid-April.
Plus, his May training of 407 miles marked his highest single-month mileage. Not bad for a guy who barely ran competitively in high school in Connecticut -- he primarily played soccer -- and did not compete at all in college.
Johnson, who received his bachelor's in fine arts with an emphasis on painting from the University of New Hampshire, and his masters in the same discipline from Montserrat College of Art in Massachusetts, did not begin running seriously until he was between degrees. (His creative side emerged Saturday -- at one point, he raced in a blue baseball cap, red singlet, black shorts, orange gloves, and yellow and white shoes with red socks). A summer spent in Big Sky, Mont., seduced him into two-hour runs after his usual regimen of 30-minute jaunts.
"There was just something about the trails and exploring nature,'' he explained.
This is the third summer in Seward for Johnson and his wife, Mariah, who have now made the small town on the shores of Resurrection Bay their home. Erik does trail maintenance for Alaska State Parks and in the fall will begin work at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center in Seward.
Johnson's only stumble Saturday was a literal one. Crossing a slick footbridge at Westchester Lagoon just before the imposing hill up to West High, he fell and skinned his left knee.
Small price to pay for victory. Winning salved his soreness.
"It's really cool,'' Johnson said. "At one point during the race, when I was getting carried away, I actually thought, 'I can't wait to e-mail everyone I know.' ''
Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.
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