Meet Johnny, Team Nokomis Member
On June 17, 2023 Team Nokomis Alumni Member Johnny celebrated the completion of his first marathon in Duluth, MN. Johnny’s journey to Mile in My Shoes’ follows a unique path. Already regularly logging 6-8 miles, Johnny joined Team Nokomis - an all-veterans team built in partnership with the nonprofit Every Third Saturday (ETS) - while training for Grandma’s Marathon. “I was going through veteran’s court and they asked me what I was planning to do to stay healthy. I told them I was running and they suggested I join Mile in My Shoes.” Johnny decided that joining MiMS would be a great way to get support with his marathon training and meet his program requirements. This year, however, was actually Johnny’s second time attempting Grandma’s:
“I started really running in 2022 to improve my mental health. I used to play soccer and actually had a soccer scholarship for college, but I ended up going into the military instead. I started running again to occupy my mind and keep it from wandering into the dark thoughts. Training for a marathon was three hours and then coming back I had to stretch and recover and that took three more hours. That was time I was able to keep my mind from wandering. I would run 15 miles from St. Paul to meet with my probation officer.
I live in MAC-V’s Building 47 (a 13-bed residential facility on the Minneapolis VA Medical Center campus providing safe, clean and structured housing to unhoused, single male Veterans). A lot of those men in Building 47 had abused their bodies. They experienced drug and alcohol addiction. That was me, too. I hadn’t worked out after getting out of the military. It was lonely.
One day, while out for a run, I ran into Merv, a friend from Building 47, who asked, ‘You're running?’ He was too - as part of his recovery plan. He was like 270 lbs and needed someone to run with him. So, I started chaperoning him on his runs. After two runs, Merv came to me and said, ‘Have you heard of Grandma’s Marathon? We’re signed up for it!’ I was like, Are you crazy!?
We had 45 days left to train and had not yet even broken a mile running together. So I used to run to meet Merv and then we would run together. Then, I would run back home. One day I looked over my shoulder and noticed that Merv was following me in his car. I realized he was pacing me because he didn’t want me to run alone.
On the day of Grandma’s Marathon 2022, we ran eight miles together. I could tell he was struggling to keep going. He wasn’t going to finish so I made sure to get him in an ambulance and then I kept going. I finished 21 miles and then I stopped. My knees were shot.
I wanted to sign up again this year because I made a promise to myself and my friend that I would finish the marathon. I was running already when I started with MiMS, training for Grandma's Marathon. The Run Mentors knew this and gave me training pointers, encouragement, and some took the extra time to run a few more miles with me after the team runs. Those extra motivational words of encouragement really made the difference in my training and thought process when the real day of running the marathon came. I even voiced about how I didn't have transportation or lodging set up for Grandma's and quietly behind the scenes, people took care of those blind spots for me and things got situated.
Running with MiMS has been a tremendous boost to my recovery. I remember how, at the beginning of March, I was running solo almost every day and thinking, “OMG this is such a lonely sport.” I was more used to the kind of sport that had teammates and oppositional players. In running, the opposition is oneself, the weather, the road conditions, car drivers … and loose dogs!
I remember I couldn't wait for April 19, the first run with the Nokomis Team. Once I started running with MiMS, it reminded me of the days of long ago in the Army where there were 40 of us running in formation … everyone working and supporting each other to finish the run. This new-found sense of team made me want to show up every time to run with the team because not only can I draw upon the energy of the group, but give that same kind of energy back to those that need it.
Johnny with 2023 Grandma’s Marathon Finisher’s Medal
I’ve always wanted to be there for my friends, my family. That’s part of why I went into the military too. I was born in a war zone. I remember at the age of four, dead bodies being flown in around me. I saw death and destruction. My dad was a CIA trained member of the US Army stationed in Vietnam. I remember hearing his war stories and seeing his military scars. My dad used to have me stand at attention since I was really small.
But my father passed away when I was nine. I had to step up and help raise my brothers and sisters. I always knew I was different than the other kids. I had to grow up fast and I started rebelling against societal norms - and not in a positive way. I thought with my fists. They used to call me ‘Black Wolf’. Even though I was smart, I had a hard time fitting in and we moved often, switching schools every year.
When I graduated high school, I married my high school sweetheart. I had an offer to attend college in La Crosse, Wisconsin but did not accept it. I was the oldest child, and I don’t think my mom really understood the offer and what it could be. A week after turning down the scholarship, I signed the papers to join the Army. For me, it was a way to take control of what I experienced as a kid. I enlisted as a medic. I knew when I joined the Army that I didn’t want to join the combat side of things - I didn’t want to cause any more death.
After completing basic service, I attended Army Advanced Individual Training (AIT) School at Fort Sam Houston and earned an EMT certification. I was the top of my class. That experience helped me grow up, learn discipline, and respect the uniform. I watched the last three graduation groups get deployed and I was ready. There were 300 of us. We had the going to war mentality and were all going above and beyond because we were thinking, ‘He might be working on me’.
I was disappointed that I didn’t get deployed to Iraq. I went to Ft. Carson to work as part of the medical detachment team. There, I trained as an air assault medic and made it my goal to learn the records of the hundreds of military service men and women serving in the engineer battalion.
For me, transitioning out of the Army, it took about six or seven months before I was able to fully incorporate back into civilian life. My challenge when I first got out was getting up early and wondering, what do I do? Looking at the uniforms that were still hung there and then looking at my civilian clothes and putting them back on. Trying to just say, “ok, that’s done”.
For the last 10 years, it has been hard for me to do what I used to do for my family. I used to be the one my siblings depended on but it has been a struggle and I need to focus on getting myself better. My mom is my inspiration. She came to the United States in 1977 and didn’t start speaking English until the late 80s. She is now an important part of the Hmong community, running her own business and leading Hmong New Year celebrations as Chairman of the Ball. I have a deep appreciation for how much she has worked my whole life. She’s strong. I want to live up to her reputation.
My goals now are to keep my running lifestyle. I want to keep training and pushing myself forward to stay healthy. I will also promote and recruit other veterans to run with Team Nokomis with the hopes that it might influence them to start a healthy lifestyle as well.”
Next up, Johnny will be racing the @twincitiesinmotion 10 Mile as a FundRacer for MiMS! In lieu of linking to his personal venmo as a thanks for sharing his story, Johnny asks that if you’d like to support his success you can donate to his FundRacing campaign - thank you!