Regina Joyce is a woman with a past, which put her in good company Sunday at the finish line of the Humpy's Marathon.

Joyce's victory in a closely contested women's race was inspiring enough -- she's 53, and she won in 3 hours, 9 minutes, 49.3 seconds -- but her resume is even more impressive.

Twenty-six years ago, Joyce competed for Ireland in the 1984 Olympic marathon, a race as memorable as it was historic. Joyce, who lives in Seattle now, finished 23rd at the Los Angeles games, where Maine's Joan Benoit became a national hero by winning the first Olympic marathon for women and Switzerland's Gabriele Andersen-Scheiss became an international symbol of perseverance when, staggered by dehydration, she literally crawled across the finish line.

Joyce wasn't the only runner whose accomplishments on Sunday loomed larger once put into the context of their past, whether distant or recent.

Erik Johnson of Seward won the men's marathon in a personal-best 2:41:09.5, a victory made more impressive by his win in the Mayor's Marathon in June and his then-PR performance at the Boston Marathon in April. Johnson isn't the first man to win both of Anchorage's marathons in the same year -- Jerry Ross did it two years ago -- but it's rare.

Debbie Cropper of Anchorage was unable to repeat as champion, but she posted her third-fastest marathon time to finish fifth in 3:12:22.0, a performance made more impressive by all the mileage she's logged lately, both running and traveling. Two weeks ago she won a marathon in Australia, and the Humpy's race was her seventh marathon -- and her first in Alaska -- this year.

As for Dave Johnston of Wasilla, he clocked a PR by placing fourth in 2:52:09.8, an effort made mind-blowingly impressive by his win two weeks ago in the Resurrection Pass 100, a 100-mile out-and-back race on the trail that runs through the mountains between Hope and Cooper Landing.

"Twenty-one hours by myself," Johnston, 40, said of his Resurrection 100 experience.

Nobody got too lonely while racing Sunday. A field of 2,378 filled downtown for the Big Wild Life Runs, an Anchorage Running Club event that features a marathon, a half- marathon, a 5-K and an untimed fun run for kids.

Monica Ross (1:28:20.8) and Tom Ritchie (1:15:00.9) claimed titles in the 13.1-mile half-marathon, which served as the state championship for that distance. Sheyenne Lewis (20:07.9) and David Bondi (15:34.1) captured wins in the 5-K, held on a new fast, flat course that never leaves downtown Anchorage.

"I cheered for every single person I passed," Johnston said.

Johnston celebrated his finish with a fist pump and a big smile -- a reaction that was the exact opposite of his emotions during the Resurrection 100.

"I got to mile 88 and started crying, and I've never done that in a race. I just broke down," he said. "In this one, I smiled the whole way. This one was cake, although I still dug pretty deep.

"... This was a test of how much fitness I have. I'm still tired. I couldn't even run till a week ago."

Johnston's immediate future is loaded with more long and/or arduous races, like the McCarthy Half-Marathon on Labor Day, then the Equinox in the middle of September, then maybe the Kenai Marathon at the end of September.

Johnson, meanwhile, doesn't know when his next race will be, but he's almost sure it will be a road race, not a trail race.

The 34-year-old spent most of his life in New Hampshire before coming to Alaska three summers ago. He ran the Crow Pass Crossing in under four hours last summer, but Johnson isn't yet a convert to the trail and mountain running so popular in Alaska.

"Road marathons are where I've found a niche," he said. "I've chosen to stick to the road races and transition to the Alaska-type races next year."

Johnson, who shaved about a minute off the personal-best he ran in Boston, broke away from runner-up Jake Moe of Anchorage around mile 16. He survived a side stitch that slowed him for a mile near Point Woronzof but finished looking strong.

Moe, 26, finished four minutes later in 2:45:03.5, followed by Bixler McClure of Anchorage (2:50:42.3), Johnston and Benjamin Jones of Chapel Hill, N.C. (2:52:36.4).

Things were much closer in the women's race, where Joyce beat Davya Flaharty of Fairbanks by a mere 20 seconds and only about 2 1/2 minutes separated the top five finishers.

Flaharty, who at 25 isn't even half as old as Joyce, finished in 3:10:09.2; Anchorage's Jamie Wood, 33, was third in 3:11:03.2; Fairbanks' Gina Baker, 27, was fourth in 3:12:06.5; and Cropper, 49, was fifth in 3:12:22.0.

Joyce said she almost hit the wall at mile 24.

"I thought I wasn't going to make it. I was struggling that last mile," she said. "Mentally, I'm tough enough, but if my body shuts down, there's nothing I can do. I was praying to God and praying to my mom."

Joyce's mother died in October, but her dad still hikes up mountains in Ireland at age 82. The family sent two runners to the 1984 Summer Olympics -- Monica, two years younger than Regina, competed in the 3,000 meters.

The sisters are still running, and running well, although Joyce's marathon PR of 2:32 was set 28 years ago. Last year, she said, Monica ran a 2:52 marathon at age 50.