As a long-distance runner, Greg Nance of Bainbridge Island has pounded the pavement for miles and miles over the years.

Now it looks like he could be running for political office and would be pounding the pavement stumping for elections.

Nance was appointed to be the 23rd District State Representative by the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners Sept. 18.

The position was vacated when Drew Hansen resigned after being appointed Aug. 23 to fill the 23rd District Senate seat formerly held by Christine Rolfes, who left the position after her appointment as Kitsap County Commissioner June 5, a county news release states.

Nance will join state Rep. Tarra Simmons in leading the 23rd Legislative District, which encompasses all of North Kitsap, Bainbridge, Keyport, Silverdale and East Bremerton.

In addition to Nance, other nominees included Brynn Felix and Leiyomi Preciado. Commissioners selected Nance based upon interviews with the candidates Sept. 15 and his letters of endorsement from the Suquamish Tribe, labor unions and other community organizations.

They also pointed to the diversity of his experience including environmental stewardship, work with local tribes and championing youth mental health. His term runs through 2024.

Nance graduated from Bainbridge High School in 2007. He was a three-time class president, a multi-sport athlete and a state champion and All-American debater. He earned a scholarship to the University of Chicago where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. He earned a Gates Scholarship to the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom where he earned a master’s degree in management with an innovation focus.

In his spare time, he has completed numerous physical challenges — reaching the summit of peaks worldwide, swimming some of the earth’s major rivers and completing the World Marathon Challenge in which he ran seven in seven days on seven continents.

He is the chief executive officer of the Run Far Foundation, an organization he founded to raise funds for youth mental health and at-risk youth, and as chairman of Moneythink, another organization he founded, based in Seattle and Chicago, to support inner-city youth.

He knows all about personal struggles. He shared the darkest moments of his life revealing his drug addiction and mental health issues during a cross-country run from New York to Seattle.