More than 28,000 participants will partake in this year’s 2XU Long Beach Marathon weekend, with the marathon itself drawing around 4,000 finishers each October. Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) Professor Jarvis Johnson plans to be one of the 4,000 to cross the finish line.
This will be the fourth marathon the CSULB professor completes.
Johnson, who received his master’s degree in communications at CSULB in 2002, didn’t grow up as a runner and had no inclination toward the sport as a kid — opting to play soccer and basketball instead. He ran his first-ever half marathon when he was 34 years old after he saw his friends doing it.
“He [his friend] was training and I thought, ‘All right, let me see if I can do maybe a half [marathon],’” Johnson said. “I remember a friend of mine, I told her to wait at the finish line holding a beer, a Newcastle, I think, so it gave me something to look forward to, but I realized I enjoyed it.”
A year after his half-marathon in 2013, he decided to run his first-ever marathon in Orange County.
“The first marathon I ran was with a buddy in Vegas earlier that year and I think we were just eating and I go, ‘You know, I’m going to run a marathon when I get back. I’m gonna make that my [yearly goal];’ it was January and I’ll run a marathon in May,” he said.
Unlike many people who set their New Year’s Resolution, Johnson followed through and completed the marathon. He remembers seeing his parents, sister and one of his friends when he finished the race and telling them, “I am never doing that again. You can count me out.”
However, running kept bringing him back. Year after year, Johnson wanted to keep beating his time.
In 2016, Johnson tore his ACL and couldn’t seriously run for a couple of years.
He signed up for his return to marathons in 2024 for the Long Beach Marathon and injured his right quad muscle, forcing him to drop out of the race. Johnson was watching the marathon runners close it out and he remembers being pissed to wait another year to recover; the competitive nature kicked in.
He decided to run the Long Beach Marathon last year with the mindset to do another full marathon, “if that was the last one he ever does.”
If getting back into marathon running after an injury wasn’t tough enough, Johnson’s dad was ill the entire year. He continued to train as he went back-and-forth from Long Beach to Northern California.
“There was a little extra motivation to get it done, I think because it was like the challenge was greater. It was a different kind of win for me because I did it, but I also did it having to deal with all this outside other stuff,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s sister —who has competed in 100-mile ultramarathons — was a source of inspiration. He remembers his sister showing up to his last marathon in Costa Mesa and running alongside him during the last mile stretch, saying, “Go! Go! Go!”
When Johnson puts his mind to something, he does it. His competitive nature pushes him to outrun excuses and injuries.
“The recovery is more difficult, more challenging,” Johnson said. “I don’t like to feel like I’m giving up unless it’s on my terms and those were not my terms.”
Last weekend, during one of his daily runs ahead of the marathon, Johnson felt his hamstring start to hurt at the 10th mile. While some might have quit at the pain, Johnson pushed himself to finish the final 10 miles.
As a Los Angeles Lakers fan, Johnson also admires the work ethic of Kobe Bryant and the drive behind his Mamba mentality. Bryant famously ruptured his Achilles mid-game in 2013 and instead of getting wheelchaired out, he walked back onto the court, took and made two free throws, and limped into the locker room.
“You’re reminded of your mortality and that’s the thing that makes it [feel good] even more,” Johnson said. “When you compete for something, it’s like, despite the potential injuries and age and all of that, I was able to do this.”
The individual responsibility tied to running, as well as its therapeutic nature, allows him to think about the bigger picture.
He doesn’t run with a group, opting to run solo because of the freedom.
“I do it on my own so whatever I get out of it is what I put into it,” Johnson said. “I can’t blame anyone else, I can’t rely on anyone else on the same token. Where I’m at, I’m somebody [who], for better or for worse, prefers things solo.”
That freedom extends to his other hobbies, such as his Sound to Savor podcast, where he pours some wine and discusses new music, artists and music-related history, and being an avid concertgoer.
Johnson said he wasn’t sure if Sunday’s race might be his last marathon, but the CSULB professor advises people to not follow in his footsteps and instead sign up for shorter races first if they’re interested in marathon-running.
“Start off with a 5K or a fun run type of thing. Do it with your friends, quite the opposite of everything I told you, basically,” Johnson jokes. “Just realize it can be fun and there’s a high you get when you cross that finish line.”
