COEUR d'ALENE - Being 78 won't stop Malcolm Bohlman from crossing the finish line in the Coeur d'Alene Marathon.

After all, last year when he was 77, age didn't stop him.

Neither did it the year before, 76.

Or, 75, 74 ...

Like that one battery-charged bunny, the Walla Walla, Wash., runner keeps going and going.

So this year, Bohlman is starring down a familiar goal, finishing the Coeur d'Alene Marathon.

"You feel like you've finally done something," he said on completing a race, which he has done a whooping 195 times between marathons and other road runs since his first one in 1977, the Trail's End Marathon in Seaside, Ore.

And among those 195 races is every single Coeur d'Alene Marathon. Bohlman has run the race 35 times, 36 if he knocks out this year's 36th annual event.

Which he should. As a reward for Bohlman's longevity, and loyalty, race organizers this year gave the veteran runner a free entry to the May 26 run.

"Until I can't go anymore," he said, when asked how long he plans on going.

Companionship is a large part of his participation in the competitions. He said one friend ran in more than 100 marathons, and he and the friend would keep score as to how many they won.

"After about that many, we decided we were even," he said. Bohlman also said that some friends gather for what they call "Old Home Week."

"It's when we all get together and tell lies," he said.

Bohlman's age is no hurdle in his life. His wife Viola, or Vi, said he keeps very busy.

"He goes out everyday and does what he calls a 'shuffle' now," she said. "He's hanging in there."

Vi said all the doctors know to plan everything around the marathon so he has time to get back on his feet for the next one.

"They've all laughed about that," she cheerfully said.

Bohlman participates in about 10 or 11 races every year. He has completed three 62-mile runs as well as a couple of 52-milers, and has completed races that include running, swimming and biking. Plenty of training goes into preparing for each event. He said he used to run about 70 miles each week, but now he said he has a hard time getting in 30 miles.

Bohlman, born in Indiana and a former Bonners Ferry resident, said his best marathon time was two hours and 56 minutes in the 1978 Coeur d'Alene Marathon.

As for the Coeur d'Alene Marathon, there actually is one race Bohlman missed - 1980.

"The year Mount St. Helens dusted us out," he said.

The race was actually canceled that year because of the conditions wreaked by the volcanic eruption that coated a good hunk of the Pacific Northwest in ash.

Local lore says that a few devout runners ran an unofficial marathon a few weeks after the eruption, but that will stay a local legend for now.

As it stands, Bohlman's finished every official race, with plans to keep going and going ...