Francine Johnson, a Port Gibson resident, runs past a cannon at the visitors’ center at the Vicksburg National Military Park on Thursday. Johnson earned the Mississippi Track Club Female Runner of the Year in 2003. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[3/2/04]Francine Johnson woke up one morning and realized she hadn’t accomplished one of her goals in life running a marathon before the age of 35.

Five years later, she has finished 21 marathons and competes in races of all distances regularly.

The work paid off for the 38-year-old Port Gibson resident in a standout race year in 2003 when she earned Female Runner of the Year honors as chosen by the Mississippi Track Club for her dedication and positive attitude to the sport. It also doesn’t hurt that she finished first in the state in the club’s grand prix points system for races.

“We’re not about running against people, we’re running with people,” said Jack Ward, president of the MTC. “She’s always got a crowd of people running with her.”

On Saturday, Johnson will compete in her fourth Run Thru History. The run is her favorite of the road races, despite the difficulty the course’s hills bring.

“It’s tough, and it’s fun to hear runners gripe about how tough it is,” said Johnson. “But once they finish it, they feel like they’ve really accomplished something.”

Johnson finished second in the 35-39 age group last year, but don’t expect her anywhere near that spot this time around, she said.

On Saturday, she traveled with a group to race in a marathon in Pensacola, Fla. On Sunday, she ran in another marathon in New Orleans.

“We’re all going to be kind of herding,” she said with a laugh. “We’ll probably be limping the Run Thru by the end.”

Running has not always been a part of Johnson’s life.

When she was younger, she said she never liked to break a sweat or exert herself physically. Once she had the first of her two children, she realized it was time to get out and do something.

“Probably just like almost everyone else who starts running, I started because I needed to and wanted to lose weight,” she said.

Getting started didn’t come easy, but soon she was building on her distance, traveling a little farther each time she ran.

“I dreaded going out,” she said. “I dreaded running, and if I did three miles I was bad to the bone. I felt like I had done something. It just kind of escalated from there.”

She found herself running more often, and competing in races more often.

“I just started liking the feeling of pushing yourself, and pushing yourself a little farther. And when you’re really tired, going further and further,” she said. “To be honest, I thought if Oprah Winfrey could do it, I can do it too.”

She competed in her first marathon Dallas-White Rock in December of 1999. Since then she has competed in countless races and runs regularly.

When she leaves work as a dietitian at River Region Medical Center, Johnson heads to the Vicksburg National Military Park to jog four times a week.

Johnson said she even has tried to pass her passion for running to her kids, but it hasn’t stuck.

“I wish they would (run),” she said. “I encourage them as much as I can, but they say it’s boring and they call me a running geek.”

Above all, she has found a band of friends with whom she travels and can share her experiences.

“What I really have come to love and I never knew anything about it before I started is the camaraderie,” Johnson said. “All the people out here who run in the park, you can come out here anytime and find somebody you know and somebody you can run with.

“We have a wonderful group.”