Ernesto Garcia

give it your best...

b.1960

Oaxaca, MX

Coach

The Mind

Driven By

The Heart

Ernesto Garcia has set the bar high — he plans to run one marathon in each of the 50 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C. Although he’s been a marathon runner for over 20 years, he set the goal of running in every state just a couple of years ago, and, as of last weekend, can now check 10 states off his list. 

A modest, good-humored, hard working, 54-year-old busboy at Duke’s Malibu restaurant, his quest began after the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon. “I was training very hard after the bombing,” he said. 

Duke’s sponsored his ambitious endeavor with a donation of $1,500 to participate in the Boston Marathon in 2014. He used the money for travel expenses, a uniform and new running shoes. 

“I’m broke already,” Garcia laughed. “Now, I’m doing the whole thing by myself. I’m working two jobs to cover expenses, plus my car insurance and mortgage payment. I also have a part-time job at the Stinking Rose restaurant, which is shutting down in April because the lease is up.”

Garcia has worked at what is now Duke’s through all of its incarnations since 1991 — including when it was Charlie Brown’s and the Malibu Sea Lion. It was shortly after beginning his employment there that Garcia first developed his passion for running.

“I was gaining a little weight and had 10 to 15 extra pounds,” Garcia said. “So I started running with some friends also working at Duke’s who invited me to train with them, and I just kept running.

“I really enjoy running and training. I didn’t get tired, even after running 10 or 12 miles — although it took awhile to get in shape. My friends encouraged me to sign up for [the L.A. Marathon] in 1994.”

The L.A. Marathon, as with any marathon, is a 26.2-mile long foot race. The entry fee is $190 for U.S. residents, so participation isn’t cheap. 

Garcia entered the L.A. Marathon for several years and, finally, in 1998, ran it in under three hours. His excellent time qualified him to run in the Boston Marathon the following year, which he said is “every runner’s dream.” After Boston, he just kept “running and running.”

Most long-term Malibuites remember when PCH was closed in 1998 for nearly six months near Duke’s restaurant due to a mudslide. During that time, in order to stay in top running shape (and to get to work), Garcia would park his car in Santa Monica and run the nine miles into work. Then, after working a full shift, he’d run the nine miles back to his car.

Garcia’s friend and co-worker, George Xeniotis, wrote The Malibu Timesthat Garcia suffered running injuries over the years, and at one point was advised by doctors to have his right knee joint replaced (he didn’t). “Everyone at work calls him ‘Ernesto the Best-O, Champion of the West,’” Xeniotis said.

Even today, his training never stops. Garcia is a lean 139 pounds. He serves as his own coach while in training, using various phone apps to help him keep track of his time, speed and distance.

“When I have time after work,” Garcia said, “I usually run the eight to 10 miles from Duke’s to Pepperdine and back.” His goal is to run next month’s North Carolina marathon in two hours and 50 minutes. 

Garcia, native to a small village in Oaxaca, is married with four children ages 31, 27, 22 and 17. His family has always been supportive of his passion for running, but now that the oldest three have jobs and the youngest is about to graduate from high school, he feels free to pursue his dream of running a marathon in all 50 states.

His wife sometimes accompanies him to the marathons to cheer him on. They even celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary at a marathon in Hawaii. 

The 10 places that Garcia has run in so far are: California, Tennessee, Illinois, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Hawaii, Arizona, Massachusetts and, the latest one, Washington, D.C., where he finished seventh in his age group. It was not his best time, because “the weather was cold and raining,” he said.

Garcia has four more marathons scheduled for 2015: Raleigh, N.C. on April 14, Rochester, Minn. on May 24, Savannah, Ga. on Nov. 7 and San Antonio, Texas on Dec. 6.

• By Jimy Tallal / Special to The Malibu Times
• Mar 26, 2015

Marathons

2017

Gardenspot Village Marathon

age group place, 1st

Myrtle Beach Marathon

age group place, 9th

Anchorage Mayor’s Marathon

age group place, 2nd

2016

Bass Pro Shops Conservations Marathon

age group place, 3rd

Appalachian Series Day 2

age group place, 1st

Appalachian Series Day 1

age group place, 1st 

New England Challenge Old Colony Marathon

age group place, 2nd

New England Challenge Nutmeg State Marathon

age group place, 3rd 

New England Challenge Pine Tree Marathon

age group place, 2nd

Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon

age group place, 10th 

Los Angeles Marathon

age group place, 43rd

2015

Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon

age group place, 2nd

Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon

age group place, 2nd

Med-City Marathon 

age group place, 14th

Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh

age group place, 1st

Rock 'n' Roll DC

age group place, 7th 

P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon

age group place, 7th

2014

Honolulu Marathon

age group place, 7th

Rock 'n' Roll Denver Marathon

age group place, 4th

Park City Marathon

age group place, 3rd

Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon

age group place, 4th

2007

Las Vegas Marathon

age group place, 12th

2004

Lasalle Bank Chicago Marathon

age group place, 766th

2002

Nashville Country Music Marathon

age group place, 4th

Stats

Personal Best marathon

2:59:39

most recent  marathon

3:06:14

miles

652.8

races

27

Ernesto Garcia