Give me 20: Lynn resident Powers readies for a double decade of Marathons

If you’ve followed sports in Boston for a while, you know the Lou Gorman maxim, “The sun will rise, the sun will set, and I’ll have lunch.” For Lynn resident Gerard “Jerry” Powers, the meal of choice seems to be breakfast, and the locations of choice are two places well-known to Lynners: Brothers’ and Charlie’s.”I’ll start off in the morning with oatmeal with a sprinkle of cinnamon, honey, a little milk, and a cup of coffee at Brothers’,” said Powers, 62, who will run the Boston Marathon for the 20th time this year. “From there, I go to Charlie’s for egg whites, dark toast, and coffee. I’ll sit and chat.”Have a chat with Powers and you’ll hear stories of completing the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston, and of running in events across the United States, with a few endurance tips included. He talks in a calm, matter-of-fact and polite way, and what comes across is the quiet determination of a man who has run in every Boston Marathon since 1988 save one.”I’m always exercising – biking, swimming,” Powers said. “I try to keep myself in pretty good shape. Boston is kind of like, ‘Do you say you’ll not do it any more?’ But it brings you back. It brings you right back.”Powers speaks of a centered career in running, and it seems that his life is centered as well – centered in Lynn. It’s where he grew up (West Lynn; he’s an East Lynner now), it’s where he went to school (St. Michael’s, Breed, and Classical), it’s where he worked (Building 42 at the GE), and it’s where he learned how to run, at a Wednesday-afternoon relay race at Gannon, when he was asked to run because there weren’t enough people.”I got a pair of shorts and ran the race,” Powers said. “I came in second and got a trophy. That’s what started me going.”He posted his best marathon finish at the first one he entered – the Clarence DeMar in New Hampshire, which he completed in 3:11. Other highlights from his career include running with four-time Marathon champion Bill Rodgers, who, like Powers, will run the race this year. Oh, yes, and there was also the 6.7-magnitude earthquake he and his son survived at a condo in Kona, Hawaii, where the elder Powers had gone for an Iron Man event.”Things started shaking,” Powers recalled. “I wanted to jump off the porch ? At one point, the road split open.” During the triathlon event, he said, “Swimming was tough in the ocean.”Powers has become as adept at taking care of himself in the day-to-day business of running as he has in crisis situations. (He also endured an earthquake in Las Vegas.) He’ll explain where on a course to run (“I stay in the middle of the road. It keeps my feet level”), what to do on a course besides running (“Keep yourself hydrated. You do lose a lot of electrolytes”) and what to wear (“Don’t be afraid to spend money on a good pair of shoes”).Heading into his 20th Marathon, Powers seems to have it all figured out. Last Thursday, he completed his final long run, a 13-mile journey from the Lynn Y to Nahant and back. (He runs out of the Y, where he has been a member since 1973, for the Boston Athletic Association.) On the day of the Marathon, he’ll put on his Brooks running shoes, and runner number 21493 will renew a springtime tradition for the 20th time.When he talks, Powers conveys certainty: the certainty of breakfasts at Brothers’ and Charlie’s, the certainty of maintaining proper procedure while running. The only uncertainty is whether he’ll keep running on Patriots Day. And even there, the uncertainty doesn’t seem to last long.”I’m going to try to keep going,” he said. “I’d like to do it till I’m 80.”