Jack Warneke of San Jacinto displays a banner Tuesday, Oct. 27, to commemorate his 51 years of running and running a cumulative distance equal to more than the circumference of the earth, which is nearly 25,000 miles. Holding the banner are his wife, Nancy, left, and his daughter-in-law, Joan, at the track across from their San Jacinto homes. Valley News/Diane A. Rhodes photo
While it took Jules Verne’s fictional character Phileas Fogg only 80 days to circumnavigate the world, Jack Warneke of San Jacinto took 51 years to do the same. He has recorded all the miles he has run, since beginning the daily regimen in 1969, and in October, he logged his 25,000th mile and more.Warneke said he wasn’t always a runner. He got his inspiration while working as a pilot for the U.S. Air Force Reserves at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley when he was in his 30s. He volunteered to fly cargo missions in the Pacific during the Vietnam War. During this time, he was working in agriculture research in the soils department at the University of California Riverside.“In February 1969, I volunteered to fly a load of cargo to Da Nang, Vietnam,†Warneke, 88, said. â€
