Since then, it's been four marathons a year on average. One year he ran three and another year he ran five. His best time is 2:33. And he remembers much from each outing.

He remembers one of his first two Deseret News marathons, where officials held the start of the early morning race, he says, to get the perfect early-morning sunrise picture of all the runners starting off. "Whew, that was a warm one."

He can describe in detail what it feels like to come out of the cool canyon about mile 18 of the marathon he ran Wednesday. "That's when it gets you. By the zoo. The warm air hits you and it's like running into an oven," he says.

But he's never started a marathon he didn't finish.

His running fever has been much like his commitment to the community. He was elected to the Utah State Legislature in 1067 and served until 1990. He is on the Primary Children's Medical Center Board of Trustees and was vice-chairman of the Salt Lake Olympic Committee Ethics Committee. In the past he has headed the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, the Utah State Bar Collection Practices and the Utah Traffic Law Enforcement task forces. He is involved with the American Heart Association, the University of Utah Alumni Association and the Boy Scouts of America.

Richard Carling shows no signs of stopping.

He's had a few injuries through the years: blisters, of course; a pulled hamstring once and cuts and bruises from a tangle with another runner during a Honolulu Marathon way back when.

His feet are holding up, although they've been through some wear and tear and a hereditary condition of bunions, hammer toes and a collapsed metatarsal on one foot have his tootsies looking tied up in knots. His podiatrist says there's nothing they can really do. Procedures and surgeries might help, and they might not.

No reason to take that chance, Carling says.

On Thursday, he might rest, but he might just get a head start on his training for October's St. George Marathon too. "That's not an easy race," Carling notes. "There's a real hill from miles 7 to 12 . . . and then that down hill just pounds you to pieces."

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E-MAIL: lucy@desnews.com