David Jones
by Amy Duquette
Children become a product of their environment. Perhaps this is why when David Jones was asked when his running
began, his answer was, "My dad was a runner, one of those original 1960’s joggers," (he said with a smile), "so
I always ran." David and his family moved all over the mid-west when he was growing up but one thing that did
remain constant was his father modeling fitness. It was internalized it as a part of life. Granted he did not
always enjoy running when younger, but knew that it would help him train for other sports, especially high
school soccer. In his late 20’s his team sports participation decreased and his appreciation for running
increased.
David now has a son and a daughter of his own; Alec is 11 and Lian is 6. The family tradition continues; Alec
plays soccer and does some of the organized kid’s races after his father’s races. David speaks proudly of his
children, "He’s good too. He finished third in his age group at the Father’s Day Race last year." Lian "...is just
like a navy seal. She’s really strong and runs all over the place."
David and his wife, Marta, are "...both fitness people. We know we need to get out so we take turns. The key with
children is to get up early and someone is out running while the other is mobilizing the kids." He looks forward
to the day, which is quickly arriving, when they will be able to leave the kids alone and run together. Their
goal is to run a marathon in tandem. While sharing this wish, David pulled out of his bag his and his wife’s
unopened ‘guaranteed entry to the NYC marathon’ envelopes and held them up posing the question, "maybe it’s
this year?" He hopes they can both get the training in and that his foot injury will not stand in the way.
David has had plenty of practice with the 26.2 distance. In 1994 he ran his first marathon in NYC but claims
that he "...totally bonked. Right after four hours I slowed down, walked and vowed never again." Yet, he would
repeat the distance again, six more times. The next one he ran a conservative four hours and felt better,
building his confidence. David completed the exceptionally hilly Adirondack Marathon upstate in 3:45. His PR
in the marathon is 3:37, which he achieved in a New Jersey marathon. This left him only seven minutes away
from qualifying for Boston. Nevertheless, David is satisfied with this time considers himself to be "mellow
but competitive...a fast recreational runner."
He now tries to incorporate a marathon into family travel. However, his son is catching on to the idiosyncrasies
of runners. When David asked him if he wanted to travel to the Adirondack’s to watch him run the marathon there,
Alec declined, hitting the nail on the head with "You want me to sit in a car for five hours just to watch you
run by for two seconds?" Alec does support his Dad’s running, but when it is more local. During one of his NYC
marathons he actively supported Dad by running along side him for a block when he passed by on Fifth Ave in
Manhattan; leaving behind quick, but significant bonding time.
David runs the shorter races as well as the full marathon. He aims to be in half marathon shape all year round
and completes a 10-mile run every weekend. He runs about three or four days a week, which he increases to five
days when marathon training. He always carries his training schedule in his bag, but he claims that he is "...not
a high mileage runner. I might do 20-25 miles a week now. I did 48 miles a week at my max, before The Steamtown
marathon in 2006 where I got my second fastest marathon time."
The feeling he gets when running is what keeps him engaged in the sport. "I have to be outside in the weather,
in all conditions, and I never have an iPod. I like to run in the morning and let my body move freely, working
harmoniously, the way it was intended to move. I see the 6:30am regulars running the Prospect Park loop every
morning I get out. Sometimes I see the owls overhead as well. I go the opposite direction so I can wave to my
buddies. I have no idea what they do for the other 23 hours in the day, but we are part of a community during
that hour. Running also relives the stress of being a parent, it is my uninterruptible ‘me’ time, and from my
job." David works as a lawyer in the Manhattan US Attorneys Office. He supervises civil appeals for the
government and personally handles a variety of cases.
Other than working as a lawyer and being an active father in his two children’s lives, David finds the time
to be involved in his church and work at the Sunday school. He has been a PPTC member for at least eight years
joining after riding the PPTC marathon bus to Staten Island and thinking "...these people are incredibly nice. I
should join them. I do not have the time to be an active member, I’m compelled by the positive spirit of the
team and like that I have a chance of scoring for us." David sees life as compressed now that he has a family,
but never compressed enough to stop his running career.