Jesse Garcia answered the phone huffing and puffing.
He had just finished an 11-mile run, a distance that may seem daunting to some but is small potatoes for a man who runs that much every other day.
“I love running. It’s my life,” he said.
In 12 days, Garcia, now 68, will run in the Big Sur half marathon. The 13.1-mile trek meanders through Big Sur’s stunning coastal cliffs, past fields of cows and scenic views of the ocean as violinists serenade runners.
Garcia, a Gilroy native and a retired restaurant manager, bartender and golf teacher, estimates he has run thousands of miles in his life, averaging at least 1,000 miles every year since he first started running with a co-worker three decades ago.
At 5 feet 9 inches, Garcia is lean, muscular, and tan – presumably from years of outdoor running. He knows Big Sur well by now, having participated in dozens of races over the years including two Big Sur marathons and a half marathon.
“They have people out there with violins. It’s beautiful. They have music all the way down. And the rock ’n’ roll is pretty good too,” Garcia said. “You see the ocean. Like I said, it’s beautiful.”
When Garcia runs, he wears a black sleeveless top that carries the names of his two sponsors: The Rose Hotel, where he worked for five or six years when he lived in Pleasanton, and Post 6309, the Gilroy post for Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Garcia grew up in Gilroy, where he attended Gilroy High School and Gavilan College. He returned to the nation’s Garlic Capital about four years ago after living in other parts of the Bay Area.
The avid runner still remembers completing his first marathon in 1968 in Big Sur, just after he finished serving four years in the Army during the Vietnam War. The marathon took him four hours and 20 minutes to finish.
The photo of him crossing the finish line hangs on the wall next to his bed. So do at least seven numbers from previous races, along with a picture of Garcia and several golf buddies.
“I just love running,” he said. “I don’t know why.”
This year, Garcia wants to qualify as an elite runner, which means he will need to finish the race in less than an hour and a half. Marathons often release runners in groups and the elite runners start at least 10 minutes before all the other runners, including Garcia’s “seniors” age group division.
“When he runs, he never looks tired, he never stops, he never drinks water,” said his friend Evelyn Wilson. “I tell you, he’s alive when he’s running.”
Garcia first started running when he was a manager at Pedro’s Restaurant and Cantina in Los Gatos. The cook was a dedicated runner and Garcia joined him for long and frequent jogs.
“It takes a lot of training,” said Garcia, who runs between 10 and 12 miles every other day and plays golf every day to stay in shape.
As of Tuesday, Garcia was nine minutes short of his goal – a number that seems small but feels like infinity to a runner who must will his body to continue despite sweat and pain.
“I am really going to have to push,” Garcia said.
A true athlete, Garcia briefly took up boxing while he was in the Army, but today, he spends most days indulging in his great love: running.
“I just love it,” he said. “I feel good after running – and I don’t really get tired.”
