By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

Commuters on Route 1 in Scarborough may not know Steve Bouchard by name but spotting a brightly clad figure jogging, punching, twirling and waving in the rear view mirror has become a familiar sight. 

Usually donning one of his many NBA team jerseys, Bouchard has been jogging across Scarborough – about 10 miles per day – for the past 25 years, and that’s just his latest route. The 52-year-old Portland native said he began running along Forest Avenue and St. John’s Street while a student at Cheverus High School, and hasn’t stopped since.

“I just ran everywhere,” he said. “Half the city knew me back then.”

Larry Butler, one of several New England boxing champions residing in the city, approached Bouchard during one of his daily jaunts shortly after he graduated high school in 1974, he said. 

“This was long before the Portland Boxing Club was ever thought up,” Bouchard said. “There was a Jewish center, and I’m not Jewish, but on the sixth floor there was a boxing gym.”

Having seen Bouchard running around the city, Butler suggested he come and train at the Jewish center. Bouchard said Butler and other renowned boxers were immediately impressed by his willingness to push his body and train as a 125-pound “featherweight” fighter. 

“They told me if they trained like I did, they would all be world champs,” Bouchard said. “That was all I needed to hear.”

Under the wing of Butler and other fighters including Gene “Hurricane” Herrick, Leo Difiore and “Sugar” Ray Leonard, Bouchard began an amateur boxing career fighting at the Portland Exposition building twice a week in front of crowds of up to 8,000 people.

“It was standing room only,” Bouchard said. “Portland really was a hub for boxing in all of New England.”

Although he was never injured, knocked out or down and had aspirations of fighting with the 1976 Olympic Boxing team – all of whom won gold medals that year – Bouchard said he “didn’t have quite enough experience,” and by the time the next Olympic games came around his boxing career “had come and gone,” he officially turned in his gloves in 1985.

“For me it wasn’t ever about beating somebody up,” he said. “I got into boxing because I wanted to push myself. I was kind of an exercise fanatic.”

When Bouchard wasn’t training at the gym, running in the breakdown lane or fighting in the boxing ring, he attended nursing classes first at Southern Maine Community College and then at the University of Southern Maine, which he said created “an interesting dichotomy.” 

“One second you’re getting ready to tear somebody’s head off and the next you’re really taking care of someone,” he said. “It was a little strange.”

Bouchard recalled a specific fight toward the end of his career where his caretaking skills took precedent over his boxing ability.

“He was just a kid and I had been doing it for a while. He didn’t have a chance,” Bouchard said of the opponent. “I told him ‘Next time, stay down.’”

At the end of the match, Bouchard said he gave the younger boxer his own robe and apologized. 

“I actually cried I felt so bad,” he said.

Bouchard said he donated all of his boxing equipment to the Portland Boxing club once he retired and “got rid” of all the medals, trophies and articles generated by his fights. 

“I couldn’t say why I did that,” he said.

Bouchard’s compassion eventually began to affect his career as a nurse practitioner at Mercy Hospital and after 20 years performing various diagnostic tests on patients with heart diseases, Bouchard said it was time for a change.

“I saw a lot of people dying and suffering,” he said. “I had enough.”

Now Bouchard, who works in the natural and organic food section in Scarborough’s Hannaford grocery store, spends his days following his favorite NBA team – the Boston Celtics – and continues to run whenever he has a chance. Bouchard said he makes a point to wave to bus drivers, firemen, police and public works employees during his morning and afternoon jogs along Route 1 and portions of Black Point Road.

“They are some of the finest people in the community,” he said. 

In addition to public employees, Bouchard says he recognizes about 100 commuters who greet him with a smile and a wave. The “friendly faces” keep him from exploring other jogging routes, he said. 

“I can’t see my friends if I’m jogging on the beach,” he said. 

Bouchard, whose father was a Marine, said he regularly stops at the American flag at the Sudzie car wash building and says a small prayer to pay his respects to men and women in the military. The prayer, although brief, can be emotional and sometimes results in finishing his jog with tears in his eyes, Bouchard said. 

“I have a great empathy for [servicemen and women],” he said. 

In the 35 years he has spent traversing the breakdown lane both in the summer and the winter, Bouchard said he’s never been injured or afraid of motorists. The trick, he said, is to “keep your head up” and, unlike bicyclists, run against the flow of traffic so you can see the vehicles coming.

“If there’s a tractor trailer truck coming, I’ll wait for it to pass,” he said. “I’m not going to play chicken.”

With no interest in marathons, races or traveling with a group, Bouchard said it’s the “sheer thrill” of running on the road that keeps him “chomping at the bit” each morning. 

“I really am having a ball [running],” he said. 

Only 10 pounds heavier than he was 34 years ago, Bouchard said his running and boxing experiences help give him confidence in his body and his ability to overcome struggles in life. 

“Bruce Lee said running is the key of all exercises,” he said. “Stamina is the key in boxing, and fatigue makes cowards of us all. I’ve never wavered.”

Bouchard said he plans on running each day “until the lord takes it away.”

“It’s my one and only true love,” he said.