Jason Parks
Jason Parks is the fastest Alaskan hardly anyone has heard of.
Despite running a marathon in 2 hours, 24 minutes, Parks has remained relatively anonymous for various reasons: he’s only been in Alaska two years; he lives off-the-beaten path in Kenai; the pandemic has limited racing and social opportunities; and he mostly trains alone.
Perhaps Parks’ profile will begin to rise considering he placed 37th among 26,064 men at the Chicago Marathon in 2:27:13.
The accomplishment of averaging 5 minutes, 37 seconds per mile came despite stomach cramps that slowed his pace after he reached halfway in 1:11.
“The wheels sort of fell off at mile 16,” said Parks, adding that he was able to rally and move up a few places towards the end.
Originally from Kentucky, Parks ran at Centre College in Danville. After graduating in 2010, he focused on medical training in Louisville and Atlanta. He eventually returned to competitive running and experimented with trail and ultra racing by winning both the Georgia Sky to Summit 50-K in 2015 and Strolling Jim 40-miler in Tennessee in 2017.
In January 2019, Parks had a breakthrough marathon in Houston, clocking 2:24:37 to finish 33rd overall (18 professional runners finished ahead of him, including some from Ethiopia and Kenya).
“It was my first major, major marathon,” Parks said. “I was really happy how I placed.”
Seven months later, Parks started work at the Peninsula Radiation Oncology Center in Kenai, where he delivers radiation to cancer patients.
“After living in cities, we wanted a smaller town with outdoor opportunities,” Parks said. “We visited and liked the people and environment and went for it.”
Parks, 33, and wife Hannah now have a 2-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter and are settling into the slower pace of life while building community on the Kenai.
Photos from Jason Parks
Parks mostly trains on the pathways around Kenai and Soldotna, which are ideal for flat marathons. He doesn’t mind the repetition of those routes, or of the treadmill that he’ll use when time is tight or the weather is inclement.
Parks also enjoys the mild temperatures and lack of traffic compared to places like Atlanta. Though he hasn’t raced much in Alaska yet, Parks did win the Kenai Marathon in 2019 and the Kenai Half Marathon in 2020 with an impressive time of 1:10:37. The 15-mile Lost Lake Run in Seward, a challenging point-to-point trail event, is also on his radar.
Parks is coached by Atlanta-based Carl Leivers and logged 60-80 miles per week during his build-up for Chicago. He mostly trains solo, though he has run once or twice with Soldotna’s Megan Youngren — a 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier.
Qualifying himself for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials is a “pie in the sky” goal considering that a time of sub-2:19 would be required. For now, he’ll strive to whittle time off his personal best next spring at either the Eugene, Vancouver or Boston Marathon and he plans to take another crack at Chicago in October 2022 — where with any luck he won’t be hindered by cramps.