As he prepares to take a seat on the Lompoc City Council, Bob Lingl’s thoughts extend beyond his political race to another kind of race — marathons at Big Sur in April and New York City in November.

Twenty-six miles, plus.

Lots of people run marathons, but Lingl, who is 59, was never a runner and didn’t attempt his first marathon until March 2006, when he conquered the Los Angeles Marathon in about six hours.

Since then, he has competed in four other marathons, including his second L.A. race in March 2007. He ran the Las Vegas Marathon in December 2006, Chicago Marathon in October 2007 and Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando, Fla., in January. His best time was about 4Ý hours at Las Vegas.

Ten months before the first L.A. race, Lingl, who stands about 5 feet 9 inches tall, was a pudgy couch potato.

“At that time, I was really out of shape,” he said. “I was overweight. I weighed 205, high blood pressure, borderline diabetic. Just not in good physical shape at all.”

Now he weighs a fit 170 pounds and works out four or five times week, including a 12-mile run on weekends, a distance that will gradually increase as he prepares for Big Sur.

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Lingl, who calls himself a “mid-packer” — someone who usually finishes marathons in the middle of the pack, said his most memorable marathon so far was his first.

“I slipped at mile eight, twisted my back and should not have completed it. But sheer determination forced me to complete it.”

He showed that same kind of single-minded determination later in the race for City Council. He and Cecilia Martner finished atop a field of six candidates that included veteran incumbents Will Schuyler and DeWayne Holmdahl. Lingl and Martner will be sworn in Tuesday.

There was a payoff for Lingl’s political determination — victory at the polls — and there was a payoff for his determined training that came at the finish line in L.A.

“I was elated, euphoric. I didn’t even realize I was injured, the adrenaline was flowing in me so much,” he said. “Less than half of 1 percent of all people has ever completed a marathon, so the fact that I did it, I was ecstatic.”

The story about how Lingl got from the sofa and his sedentary lifestyle to running marathons began on Mother’s Day in 2005.

His daughters, Debi, of Lompoc, and Dawn, of Ventura, visited and took their mother, Regina, to walk the lower loop at La Purisima Mission. Regina raved about the scenic 2 Ý-mile path. Soon Lingl was off the couch and walking regularly at the mission with Regina.

“All of a sudden I started feeling better, started losing a little weight. I realized I actually enjoyed walking at the mission,” he said.

In June that year, on Father’s Day, Dawn visited again and gave her dad a pedometer to count his steps. “She has run a couple half-marathons and she told me that when I built up my miles, she and I could run a half-marathon together.”

It was a joke, but it motivated Lingl.

Soon, he was walking 7 miles, more than twice the distance of the lower loop, and he started thinking about Dawn and the half-marathon. He googled “marathon” and learned that the L.A. Marathon was coming up the following March — plenty of time to get in good enough shape to walk it.

Signing up for the L.A. race meant he could use a professional training group, the Ventura Roadrunners, at a minimal fee. In August 2005, Lingl began training to walk the L.A. Marathon.

He was fitted with appropriate running/walking shoes, counseled about sleep habits and nutrition and taught how to train — proper arm and leg movements, walking or running strides, stretching exercises and cross training, such as weight lifting or bicycling, and a weekly long trek, which increased gradually leading up to the big race.

“The Roadrunners have a 99 percent success rate for people they train for any marathon — usually the L.A. Marathon,” Lingl said.

About halfway through the training, Lingl realized that running the race was possible for him. “At that time, I was walking 10 to 12 miles, but getting in shape, more energy. They encouraged me to do some running,” he said.

Lingl now uses the training regimen he learned through Ventura Roadrunners to help others improve their health.

Back in May, Judy Taggart, director of community health for the Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization, was recruiting people to participate in competitive summer fitness program to coincide with the Summer Olympics.

At Lompoc Valley Medical Center, where Lingl is director of laboratory services, she surveyed employees and learned that 15 or 20 of them were interested in competing in a foot race. She asked Lingl to meet with them about competing in the Valley of the Flowers Half Marathon at the mission in September.

“Most of them were like me originally — overweight, sedentary, had never run before,” Lingl said. “Basically, I just took them through the experience of Ventura that I had gained.”

In addition to the advice about footwear, nutrition and exercise, Lingl brought in a physical therapist to talk about the importance of stretching and a doctor and experienced runner to talk about injury prevention.

“We had, at one point, up to 30 people in our group. A few dropped out, but we ended up in September with 15 completing in the half-marathon with me,” he said. “These are people who prior to the training had been couch potatoes. During the training, they all became more fit, they lost weight, (gained) more energy. Many of them have continued to walk and run.”

Among them was Colodia Owens, the hospital’s director of business operations, who had never exercised before joining Curves gym a few months earlier. Walking with Lingl augmented her workouts at Curves, Owens said.

“The first day, we were told we were going to walk 3 miles. It took me over an hour and I was half dead. Now I can walk over 5 miles, hills, etc., and not be winded. What I have noticed the most is my upper- and lower-body strength, that I had lost and did not realize how much I had lost.”

Radiology technician Rolanda Cordero, 49, said she began walking with Lingl to lower her cholesterol, which dropped 80 points, into the normal range, because of her exercise and changes in diet. “I feel great,” she said. Her walking regimen helped her canine companion, too, a black Labrador named Moose. “I took my dog; my dog lost 5 pounds,” she said.

Mike Despres, the hospital’s director of dietary, may be Lingl’s star pupil.

A smoker who had quit and needed a distraction, Despres ran his first marathon in Sacramento on Dec. 6 and finished in 4 Ý hours.

“The running conditions were perfect,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d have the energy at the end, but I was actually able to pick up the pace and run fast.”

Despres, who has lost 20 pounds, now hopes to run the Big Sur Marathon in April.

“I remember the first time we went out, he was huffing and puffing and probably only did a couple of miles,” Lingl said. “He’s done very well. I’m very impressed with what he’s done.”

The half-marathon with his daughter Dawn never worked out; she got pregnant. But Lingl said he hopes to make the training program an annual event for each fall’s half-marathon at the mission. He also plans to continue running marathons.

“My ultimate goal is to qualify and run in the Boston Marathon. It’s the elite marathon of all marathons. It’s almost like the Super Bowl of marathons.”

To qualify for the Boston race, Lingl said he must run a four-hour marathon. His best chance of doing that will be at New York next November or Sacramento next December because both are run on flat terrain. The soonest he could run the Boston Marathon would be in April 2010.

December 14, 2008