Navy Lieutenant Paul Johnson talks about running, raising mental health awareness

Paul Johnson. Photo Courtesy of Paul Johnson.

Ultra runner and Naval Officer Paul Johnson chatted about his latest run, and raising mental health awareness.

Recently, Johnson attempted to break the world record by running from Los Angeles to New York.

Johnson just ran 3,000 miles and raised over $500,000 for Team Red, White & Blue. His goal is to raise a million dollars in order to support their mission of enriching veterans’ lives.

American track and field legend Jesse Owens once said: “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” Johnson embodies this quotation by the late four-time Olympic gold medalist.

Paul Johnson: The Naval Officer and Ultra Runner

“Being a Naval Officer definitely taught me so much so quickly, especially from both a personal and leadership development standpoint,” he said. “I don’t regret doing this job. It allowed me to take 60 vacation days (that I’ve been banking for a few years now) to do this.”

The importance of Team Red, White & Blue

Johnson also spoke about the significance of Team Red, White & Blue. “I started with them nearly a year ago, as an ambassador for them,” he said. “The reason that I got started with them was their mission aligns very well with how I feel about mental and physical health.”

Significance of mental health awareness

He addressed the significance of mental health awareness. “Personally, I have struggled and I continue to struggle with my own mental health issues, and what I discovered through running, is that running is one of my greatest coping mechanisms,” he acknowledged.

“Running makes me feel so much better in dealing with everything, and that’s the mission and the message of Team Red, White & Blue: to foster that community and strengthen physical and mental health. It was just a natural alignment based off my connection with military service and how I view that connection of physical and mental health; it was a natural partnership,” he elaborated.

“As a society, we don’t understand mental health, even me, as somebody who deals with it,” he said. “If I am dealing with anxiety, depression or sleep issues, I can’t visualize those nor can somebody else, so it creates a feeling of isolation.”

Johnson continued, “In this digital age, we are so invested in social media or working in front of a screen all day, especially during the COVID pandemic when people were teleworking, and that became a huge thing.”

“I think that adds a little bit and it makes those feelings of isolation worse. From my experience, the best way to deal with that is through physical activity such as running,” he said.

“Just having people there supporting me during my run made it so much more enjoyable,” he added.

Being able to run 3,000 miles from Los Angeles to New York

On running 3000 miles, he said with a sweet laugh, “I didn’t realize how big 3,000 miles was.” “It was awesome though, and pretty incredible,” he admitted.

“The run was for the awareness of mental health and fundraising for Team Red, White & Blue, and I think we were very successful in that,” he said. “Our goal is still to raise over one million dollars for the rest of the year, so we are continuing to push that.”

Lessons learned from this running journey

Regarding the lesson he learned from this journey, he said, “It doesn’t matter how much it hurts, as long as the legs actually work, you can keep going. You need very little food and sleep, and the body will keep going.”

On his daily motivations, he said, “Simply put, I get bored easily. I need to do something… The past six days since I’ve finished, my body is still going through shock, and it is trying to eat and sleep. My body doesn’t know what to do. For me, personally, motivation is about staying active.”

“When I was running down the streets in Ohio, the entire town was out on the sides cheering us on. You are able to feel how much of an impact you are having. There are so many people watching and so many people counting on us that it’s really not so much about us doing it; it’s more about us doing it and them feeling like they are a part of it and not wanting to let them down,” he added.

He went on to describe his experience finishing his run in New York as a “once-in-a-life experience,” especially due to all the love and warm reception he received from everybody.

Future plans

On his future plans, he shared, “I have three more races scheduled for this year: I have a 24-hour one, then I have a 100-miler the week after.”

“Then, three weeks after that, I fly out to France for Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, which is the Super Bowl for Trail running for the entire world. This will be my second year doing that, so those will be a lot of fun,” he said.

Johnson revealed that this fall they are putting together a 60 to 90 minute documentary about his whole experience. “I want to have the message that we have, and I want to have fun with it,” he said.

“I don’t want this to be a standard documentary, I want to have fun with it and just show all of the ridiculous things that we went through, the experiences we’ve had, and the people we’ve met,” he added.

Advice for young and aspiring ultra runners

For young people that wish to go into ultra running, he said, “I hope you like being in pain. I hope you like the suffering. It is such an incredible sport.”

“The awesome thing about the sport is that you don’t have to be fast,” he said. “You literally have to keep moving and you have to keep pushing through. There are so many incredible highs but so many equally lows.”

“What is amazing about the sport is that you hit the highs and the lows, and you push through them makes you realize that it’s also a mental sport as much as it is physical,” he acknowledged.

“The mantra that I tell myself is that it is supposed to hurt,” he noted. “When it starts to hurt, know that this is normal, and it’s supposed to hurt.”

“Eventually, the pain is going to go away, you are going to ride the high and you will get to the end. Then, the next thing you know is that you run 50 kilometers or 100 miles, and you look back and realize that it isn’t that bad,” he elaborated.

Stage of his life

On the title of the current chapter of his life, Johnson said, “10 Feet in Front of Us.” “That is what I kept telling myself during the run,” he said. “I am just focusing on the small targets.”

Superpower of choice

Johnson’s superpower of choice would be “to fly.” “I would love to fly; that’s an obvious one. I have dreams where I could fly and that’s the coolest thing ever,” he said.

Success

Regarding his definition of the word success, Johnson said, “Doing what I enjoy and still finding joy in it. Running, in a way, is my meditation, so it is very liberating for me.”

The late Colin Powell once said: “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” An individual who is the epitome of this quotation is Paul Johnson.

To learn more about Paul Johnson, follow him on Instagram, and check out his official website.