After running a mile in less than eight minutes while wearing a 75-pound bomb suit in a Yakima, Washington, park on Saturday, Sgt. 1st Class Eric Johnson stands ready to claim a world record.
Again.
Two years ago, while stationed in Grafenwoehr, Germany, with 720th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, Johnson donned a similar suit and made a similar run, finishing in a record-breaking 7 minutes, 46 seconds. He submitted the paperwork to claim his honor ... and everything went south.
"I was about 5 feet short of the finish line," Johnson recalled. "One of my soldiers started to come out and take my helmet. ... They called it 'assisting.' " The attempt was rejected.
On Saturday, the finish line was clear. And while the 42-year-old's time slipped slightly to 7:55, it's far faster than the 8:29 mark set by Hungary's Zoltan Meszaros in March 2014 and recognized by Guinness World Records as the all-time best.
Sgt. 1st Class Eric Johnson relaxes after running a mile in a 75-pound bomb suit at record-setting pace Saturday in Yakima, Washington.
Photo Credit: Eric Johnson via Facebook
Johnson said Wednesday that he's still preparing a pile of evidence including photos, witness and timekeeper statements, an official route survey, and uncut, unedited video that Guinness must review before certification. The process may take four months, he said, but the painful part, at least, is over.
"Your legs just don't want to cooperate by the end," said Johnson, with 53rd Ordnance Company (EOD) based at Yakima Training Center, who made four practice runs in a two-month span while wearing the suit. "At about the 3/4-mile mark is where my legs started to burn pretty good. It was just a matter of pushing through it."
Johnson, an Iowa native, made his first attempt at the mile record in 2010. The mark has been traded off by EOD community members for several years, with Army, Navy and Air Force personnel holding it at one time or another. Johnson also has branched out in his bomb suit, participating in Tough Mudder and Spartan Races as well as a triathlon.
Then-Staff Sgt. Johnson prepares for a 2010 attempt at the bomb-suit mile record in Germany.
Photo Credit: Capt. Jennifer Dyrcz/Army
Like many of the other races, Saturday's record-breaking run served as a fundraiser, with Johnson having collected more than $2,000 for the EOD Warrior Foundation, a nonprofit that supports wounded EOD troops and the families of those who've fallen.
"There's a small number of EOD techs," Johnson said. "When we lose someone, it does hit us hard, because chances are we probably knew them, or we knew somebody who knew them."
Johnson is continuing to accept donations. More details on the run are available at Johnson's Facebook page.
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
