Jerry Kotsovos is an icon in the Camas community. Kotsovos is constantly seen jogging around Camas neighborhoods, rain or shine. Kotsovos is recognized for being an inspiration, currently holding a running streak of 200 days, but in his late 60’s and early 70’s, went 1,943 days straight of running.

“One day in college…I thought, just once in my life, I want to run two miles without stopping,” said Kotsovos. Little did Kotsovos know, he would run 29 marathons, including the 1978 Boston Marathon, in 2:56:12. 

“I ran one recently…I wanted to be able to say I’ve run marathons in six decades of my life,” said Kotsovos.

Kotsovos graduated from the University of Oregon and was a teacher in Oregon for 35 years.

“I taught high school social studies, primarily advanced placement American history,” said Kotsovos. His running started when he was attending University, specifically, P.E. class.

When Kotsovos is not running, he enjoys reading. Kotsovos finds the quote, “Aging slows running, but running slows aging,” from “Tao of Running” to be motivational. 

“I’m in my 48th year(of running)”, said Kotsovos. 

Kotsovos finds running to be a lesson on the importance of goal setting and persistence.

“It is a good mental release,” said Kotsovos.

Kotsovos has found the best way to continue running is to integrate it into your daily routine. Kotsovos avoids mental blocks regarding his exercise using this strategy. This way, every day is a running day. 

“I have lived over 27,000 days, and of those days of life, I’ve gone for runs on more than 16,000 of them,” said Kotsovos. 

Kotsovos is currently averaging seven miles a day, although for 40 years he was averaging eight. Kotsovos has withstood multiple running injuries and wants to continue his exercise outside.

“I’ve run on treadmills before and they get too boring,” said Kotsovos.

This impressive amount has achieved great recognition within the Camas community. When proposing the feature on “Jerry” (Kotsovos) to the Camasonian team, the whole class erupted in admiration and acknowledgement.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not being greeted,” said Kotsovos. 

One of Kotsovos favorite movies is “Chariots of Fire.” Besides the obvious running aspect of the movie one would assume Kotsovos would gravitate towards, he especially appreciates the soundtrack.

Kotsovos is a pillar of admiration and motivation for all, runner or not, due to his hard work and dedication.