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Guest: Janice Martin
Show Notes:
Janice Martin and I got to meet at the Carmel Marathon expo after I saw she had run the race every single year and had completed over 200 half marathons (and the 50 states)!
During this episode, sponsored by Pure Fuel, we talk about:
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Her incredible wall of hundreds of race medals
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Chasing 50 states for the SECOND time and the clubs she’s a part of
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Her two brain surgeries in two months around the time she turned 40 due to cavernous angiomas
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Marriage advice since she’s been married to her husband, Patrick, for almost 40 years
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Some of her race stories among the 200+ races she’s done - finish line food, the ducks at the hotel in Memphis for St. Jude, running in the Grand Tetons and Black Hills,
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Running races with each of her kids
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The 50 States Half Marathon Club community and the remaining states she has for round two of running all 50
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Her race medals and shirts - which ones are her most favorite and why
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Seven half marathons in seven days in seven states
Sponsor Details:
- Pure Fuel - Use code FUEL20 for 20% off
Episode Transcript:
This is a Sandy Boy Productions podcast.
Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, a podcast for everyday runners. I'm your host, Ali Brett Knocker, and if you run, you are a runner and every runner has a story. Join me each week as I share these stories and we celebrate finish lines and milestones together. I'm so excited about my guest this week, but before I get to her, I wanna make sure that you know that there's a giveaway going on with myself and Sandy Boy Productions, which is Lindsay Hines Podcast Network.
She is the host of the All, have Another podcast, and we partnered up with Organic Pure Fuel from Anderson's Maple Syrup in order to provide you with this giveaway for Twin Cities Marathon Weekend. So that is in early October. It's the first weekend in October, and we are giving away. An entry, you can pick the race distance.
It does not [00:01:00] have to be the marathon. A VIP experience a 10 pack of Anderson's pure Fuel, which is the Enco Fuel at the race. A $50 gift card to Twin City running company, $50 gift card to Red Cow, a local restaurant And then. we also found out that we now have a pair of brook shoes that we're giving away as part of the giveaway.
So a lot of cool stuff in that. And if you haven't picked your fall marathon, let fate decide. Join the giveaway. You do that by going to my Instagram or Lindsay's Instagram. Mine's ally, @allytbrett_runs, and then you find the giveaway post. You simply follow me, Lindsay and Organic Pure Fuel Tag three Friends and your Entered to Win.
So right now I think we have maybe just over a hundred people, so odds are pretty good. Go, go get it. It ends at. 3:00 PM on Friday the 13th. So if you listen to this, the day it comes out, you might still have time if you don't stay tuned for future giveaway opportunities. Okay, now to Janice. Janice Martin [00:02:00] is my guest this week and I was introduced to her.
I. From the Carmel Marathon, they posted about her story and how she's a streaker for Carmel, which means that she's run every single race since its inception and she has done over 200 half marathons. And so I said, I commented on their Instagram, I said, I need to meet Janice. So kindly, j Duba, who is their race director, and actually Peter Morante, I think that's how you say your name.
Peter, sorry. Introduce me to Janice via email. And we connected and we got to meet at the Expo for Carmel, which sadly ended up being canceled due to weather. Then also at the Mini Marathon Expo in May, and then I had to record virtually with her. She's from Columbus, Ohio. Now, these days and so.
We chatted about all her adventures. I mean, over 200 half marathons over Memorial Day weekend. She ran a half marathon in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and that is her 46th State. I. On her way to doing all 50 states plus [00:03:00] DC twice, two times. So we talk about that. She also had crazy health story that I had no idea about before this interview, and we talk about the community of the 50 states Half Marathon club, which I don't know much about.
So that was really fascinating and I think you're just really gonna enjoy Janice and hopefully, especially those of us who are local to Carmel, Indiana area. We'll get to see her next year when the Carmel streak will resume for her. So please enjoy this conversation with Janice Martin.
Ally: How are you
Janice : you are doing? great, Allie, how about yourself?
Ally: doing? All right. Just admiring and counting the metals hanging behind you.
Janice : It's not even all I kinda have to go, if I can kind of go, it goes well to wall all the way, both ways.
Ally: Yeah. When you and I met I dunno if you remember this, but you let me text a picture of your metal wall to myself. So
Janice : Oh,
Ally: the Well, and you sent, sent me the photo so I now have it because I'm like, that is, that is goals the definition of like what I would love for the wall in my gym [00:04:00] to look like.
It is so cool. So how are they hung?
Janice : I actually, I, they're just hung with, um, like cafe rods, curtain rods, and then I just hang them like a tie. I've put 'em through. So my, my daughter actually came up with that idea on Pinterest and showed me it. And, um, being an accountant, I'm kind of frugal, so I'm like, this is a very inexpensive way to do it. Yeah, no kidding. 'cause especially with the number of races you've done, if you like. Yeah. Framed them or bought enough metal hangers to hang all those, you'd be out quite a bit. Yeah.
Yeah.
That is just a nice way. And my husband was, he put, he just hung it with like, wood so that they're not actually all into the wall, so that if, you know, when we, we were in our old house, he knew he was gonna have to move 'em, so he said instead of having three, 500 holes to patch, he said, I only have 20, you know, for hanging the boards up.
So, so it made it easier for them.
Ally: Yeah. That is so cool. it. I
Janice : Thank you.
Ally: So 500, is that an Es your estimate of how many medals you [00:05:00] have?
Janice : It's probably, I know it's probably over 300 at this point,
Ally: Yeah. 'cause you've done over 200 half marathons, which is wild. And you've done 50 states almost twice.
Janice : Correct. I'll be doing, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho this coming weekend, which will be. 46th towards my second round.
Ally: Yeah, that is. So one round wasn't enough.
Janice : No.
Ally: Did you have, what was the reason you decided to do it again?
Janice : Um.
I had a lot of races that, I'm kind of semi, not really retired, but I'm backing down from the full time as much as I was doing. And there were just races as I did them and heard a heard about 'em and everything that I just, I'm like, I eventually wanna do here. I eventually wanna do there. Mm-hmm. And, and, I think when I finished my first 50, I kind of went through and I probably was a good 20 plus states, you know, concurrently towards my second round.
And we just said, okay, let's do another round. And if we get to it, we get to it. And we got [00:06:00] real close. And now, like I said, I'm so close. I, it's, it's in, it's in the, it's on the horizon, you know?
Ally: now you have to, does make sense to me because, you know, just thinking about the state of Indiana, there's so many great
Janice : Mm-hmm.
Ally: and
Janice : are.
Ally: the same for every state. So having to pick only one. Yeah. So you gotta go back
Janice : Yeah, some of the states were a little harder.
to come up with races. you know, they don't have quite as many as we have in Indiana or even now living in Ohio. but there were a lot of races I did where it's like, oh, I wanna do it again. Or a friend would be like, oh, my hundredth is gonna be here. So it's like, okay, I'll do it.
You know, I'll come
Ally: Right. I'll celebrate.
Janice : for you. Yeah.
Ally: Yeah. so which state's the hardest to get one in? that's kind of a question. 'cause I guess it
Janice : not really.
Ally: by hard. But I was thinking
Janice : Not really.
Ally: Is DC hard because it's like, has to all be technically in DC or does it have to start and finish?
What are the rules?
Janice : Oh. For most of the clubs, it either has to start or finish in DC like DC or the state. [00:07:00] so like when I did, West Virginia, I did Hatfield McCoy and that they have a really cool race where it's. The full marathon, or it's two half marathons and one starts in Kentucky and about the last two blocks are in West Virginia, or the second half is all in West Virginia.
And they actually start both halfs at the exact same time, which was pretty cool. but my, but at that point, my daughter and I were going for, we've been, we wanted to do West Virginia and we said, no, just doing like two blocks, you feel like you're cheating. So we did the back half, to have it be all in West Virginia, but it start or
Ally: That's funny.
Janice : in the state.
So
Ally: and the club that you are a part of is called, is the Half Fanatics, is that the name of the club
Janice : I'm in, actually in,
Ally: you in?
Janice : I'm in actually in the, uh, 50 state half marathon club. Um, I'm in, I'm in the Route 50 club. and then, then half that is another club that, one of my friends formed that she has races you can do a in, she has numerous challenges as all the clubs have challenges, [00:08:00] but hers are more of, you can do a race in any of the 50 states.
It doesn't have to be a half. It could be a 10 K year, a 5K, or whatever. And that's one challenge. Or if you wanna do halfs in all 50 states or marathons in all 50 states, or you know, a hundred. You know, halfs or fulls, that type of thing.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Janice : a little more flexible. And she formed it because she really wanted to do trail racing.
So she also has a, a trail race route 50 trail race club as a counterpart. And, it's about five years old and we have maybe a hundred people in the club and it's so fun to be in that club. So a lot of my club, a lot of those friends I met through other clubs, but it's kind of like we had, we had our last meetup in April in Knoxville and there was maybe 30 of us there.
And I know everybody. I mean, it's like going to,
Ally: so cool.
Janice : it's going to like a class reunion. It's just great, you know, so it's a different vibe 'cause it's a lot smaller club than most of the others.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Janice : But I'm also, in, half an attics and marathon maniacs too.
Ally: okay. must have found that by Googling. And then so where are [00:09:00] these, where do these clubs exist? Is it all on their website? Is it on Facebook? Like how do you interact with other members
Janice : Um, most
Ally: races, I guess.
Janice : they have, they have, they have a face, they have web websites, of course. But more commonly I interact through Facebook. I.
Ally: Okay. Okay. That makes sense. That is
Janice : And it's been, and it's been so nice. 'cause if I'm thinking of doing a race, I'll be like, has anybody ever done this race in, you know, the state or this wherever. Um, because we traveling, I mean, you want it to be a, a decent race. You want it to be well run, you don't want anything possibly to come up. So I'll look at like race raves for reviews or um, you know, I'll reach out to people and usually I get feedback almost instantaneously, you know, '
Ally: cause
Janice : and that, so that's, that's really nice to say.
And it's, and it is a case of, oh, not, does it have whatever, it's just, is it a nice race? Was it fun to do? Was it well run? 'cause people have personal things that they really look for in races. I know some people are huge on the shirts or huge on the metals, or they [00:10:00] wanna do an urban race or a rural race, or.
They wanna do big races or whatever. I, I've done all of them and I like all of 'em. So it's more of, is it just, you know, a well run, is it fun to do? Is it maybe scenic to see some things, you know, that'll be worth, worth traveling to do it?
Ally: Yeah.
Have you had any that were not well run, that were like an awful experience,
Janice : Um, one in particular, yes. Yes, it was, it was one that I'm like, of course, my, my daughter and I, I mean, I, I'm not, I don't, I'm not gonna try to, because I don't even know if the same race director is running it anymore. But, um, it was a race. It was called the Chicago Sunset half, which sounds just delightful.
Ally: It does. Absolutely.
Janice : My daughter and I were in January. You had right around Christmas time signing up for races as all true runners kind of really do, And we found this race and we're like, that sounds so nice. It was a night in July. Um, it was in sort of like an office complex, like Park [00:11:00] 100, something like that.
Ally: Okay.
Janice : started at like five in the evening.
It was like 90 degrees and 90% humidity. And then it went into this preserve, which was like running through like weeds that were like four feet high with bugs everywhere.
Ally: Oh yeah. That sounds awful.
Janice : So we all both finished it and said this, this Was was not amazing at all.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : And the worst part about it is it was up it Hoffman Estates, which is two hours northwest of Chicago.
Ally: Oh no.
Janice : I mean, Superman with his x-ray vision couldn't even see the skyline. And, and the shirt was like a cheapy white shirt. The metal was like a really cheap, didn't even say the race. It was the sponsor's name on the, on the metal. And you're like.
Ally: no.
Janice : And you're like, okay, this just really was all the way around and awful.
You know?
Ally: was not a great experience,
Janice : So,
Ally: know? How long ago was that?
Janice : oh gosh, that was probably about 10 years ago. It was, it was way before COVID. Um, so I don't even know if they hold the race anymore.
Ally: [00:12:00] say, I bet you it doesn't exist
Janice : And
Ally: that review
Janice : it just, it's just one of these where it's like, Oh, this was really, I'm glad I didn't travel. I mean, we, we traveled up, we visited my mom in northwest Indiana, and then we thought, okay, we'll drive to the race.
It was literally two hours from her house.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : we had a four hour round trip for a race that was just not really good.
Ally: Yeah, that's, I'm trying to think if I've had any similar experiences where I was just like, I will never do that race again. I don't, I don't think I have,
Janice : That's probably one of the few, I would say never been, you know, there's,
Ally: you do enough of 'em, you're gonna find
Janice : oh yeah.
Ally: not good.
Janice : Yeah.
I mean, I'm very fortunate that that's probably the only one. I would just say hands down, no, wouldn't do it again.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : some of the races just because of time of year, just cold or whatever, or just like, they can't do anything about that.
Where if I did it again, okay, the race was fun, but I'm just gonna have to accept the fact I might Be cold or super hot or something like that just because of the time of year. Yeah. But that's not, that's nothing the race director can control. So I don't, I don't count that against the race. That's my choice to do that.
Ally: thank [00:13:00] you. That's nice of you because people who put on racists appreciate that. You don't blame them for that. Like, uh, you know caramel.
Janice : Yeah. No, no, no. I, I mean, I, I remember one year with the monumental, I was friends with at that time, the assistant director and he said, yeah, it was the one year at like sleet hailed and that kind of thing. It was a terrible, and then, you know, then I, I remember thinking that as I'm going into the art museum doing, I was doing the full and I'm getting pelted, and I just thought, okay, This could end anytime soon.
Well, this.
Ally: not fun.
Janice : Just be careful what you wish for. 'cause it had a poured rain for two solid miles afterward. So you gotta be kind of really specific when you ask the guy upstairs for what you want.
Ally: Right.
Janice : But I remember talking with Casey at that time, and he's just like, they actually had people emailing going, what's with the weather? It's Indiana in November.
Ally: Oh boy.
Janice : And he's,
Ally: special.
Janice : he's like, Yeah. we, we will work on that for next year. I mean, you just, yeah,
Ally: us see what we can talk to the meteorologist about. We'll see what
Janice : yeah,
Ally: for
Janice : So you. you just can't control it.
Ally: no.
Janice : mean, I felt bad, so [00:14:00] bad for Carmel because I mean, they felt the worst of anybody. I mean.
Ally: yeah. Right. The last people who want it to be canceled are the people who worked all year to put it on, so, yeah.
Janice : and you know, and just total props to how they handled it and getting the medals out and letting you do virtual and, and the fact that the nice discount they gave us for next year. 'cause I mean,
Ally: Right.
Janice : they really had spent everything for the race. I mean, there, that was a total sun cost. I mean, that, that was just a total write off for them, you know?
Ally: yeah,
Janice : So you hate, you hate to see that happen.
Ally: yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I feel for them, but the medal was beautiful.
Janice : It's,
Ally: yours? Yeah. Yeah,
Janice : yeah.
Ally: a gorgeous medal. And I actually ended up doing, I had a workout, I think it was the following week even that was 12 miles. And I was like, oh, I could turn this into my virtual half
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: planning on running anyway.
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: it ended up being kind of a silver lining for me actually getting to earn my medal and participate. how did you do your race
Janice : Um, I, I, I did it with the mini, so I kind of doubled.
Ally: That's right, that's right. Yeah. Double [00:15:00] dipped. I've done that too. I remember during Covid
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: half marathon, when I did the mini virtually, I also signed up for another virtual race and just used it as a twofer.
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: know, there were no rules,
Janice : No, no. I remember, I, I remember I ran the mini virtually I, for some reason, I don't, I don't think I had signed up for that year. but one of my good friends did, and I, but I'd signed up for another race, so I said, well, I'll do my virtual and you can do your virtual. And we did 'em together and he said, we just have to do it, that we end where the finish line is.
So I kind of came up with a course downtown that we did 13.1, and we ended on is that New York Street
Ally: Yeah, I believe so.
Janice : and that, and I literally took a picture of him standing where the finish line would be in the middle of the road with no traffic on a Saturday. And we're just like, This this world is upside down. It's weird. It's so sad. But I mean, when would you ever be able to do that normally on New York Street? Never.
Ally: right. that's actually pretty cool.
Janice : It was.
Ally: just around Zionsville and Carmel, [00:16:00] and I did it where I did it on the day it was supposed to happen.
Janice : I think we did the same thing. I think we did the same thing. We did it on what would've been the mini, Yeah,
Ally: was really hot day. I was like, I should have just picked a different day. 'cause you know, you can do that when it's virtual,
Janice : Yes, yes.
Ally: Yeah.
Well I should say that's how we met was through
Janice : Mm-hmm.
Ally: I follow them on social media and they did a series highlighting all of their streakers, a streaker being somebody who's done it year over year, over year. so you, Janice, you've done it every year since 2011 and you don't even live here anymore.
Janice : Nope. I, I moved about two years ago, so the last two years I've had to come back as an out of towner to do it.
Ally: Right. That's so crazy. was 2011 the first year that they did it?
Janice : Yes.
Ally: Okay.
Janice : that was the inaugural and, and, it was run by, I think Todd was doing it at that point.
Ally: Todd.
Janice : yeah, it was,
Ally: it.
Janice : and he um, had it, it.
was in June, It was like the first weekend in June. and it was really hot. [00:17:00] So the next year they've moved, they've always moved it to April, the April timeframe after that,
Ally: Yeah. Yeah. That's good. I do not do well in heat personally, so I prefer to not run when it's like 90 degrees, but I say that, and then I have marathon train when it's the summer, so I don't know. But you know, I like to race when it's not in 90 degrees. So how did you end up, I guess, just running in the first place?
Could you take us back to kind of where you're from and like what your upbringing was like? Were you into sports? Things like that.
Janice : Sure, sure. Um, I am, uh, born and raised ser. Um, I grew up, uh, in the northwest part of Indiana in a small town. it's not very small anymore. It's about 20,000, which I guess is still small, but it was about 2000 when I grew up. and it's a, it's about 45 minutes outside of downtown Chicago. So.
Ally: the name of it?
Janice : St. John?
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : And so it's around the Crown Point, Merrillville kind of area.
Um, grew up there. so it was kind of nice you had the both, you had a small town, but, but you were like really close to the big city. So we had the kind of the best [00:18:00] of all worlds.
Ally: Yes.
Janice : was not athletic at all. I played volleyball a little in grade school and then I kind of did CYO volleyball 'cause I wasn't good enough to make any high school teams or anything.
But that was probably about it. I kind of was a, a, a little nerdy kid
Ally: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Janice : then went to school at Purdue, where I met my, my, my, my college sweetheart. Uh, that we are
Ally: gosh.
Janice : on our 40th wedding anniversary in September and.
Ally: it's amazing.
Janice : And then, we graduated college and then moved, decided to make our home in Indianapolis because it was, he was from Bedford, which is south of Bloomington.
So we kind of figured, that was pro Indianapolis was just sort of a nice place to be toward between both families. And so we settled here. I started doing some like five Ks. I might have done one or two 10 Ks just walking, back when I was in my twenties and really liked them. And, and that, uh, wasn't with any regularity or for anything, just so it was fun.
Okay, we'll do it. and then once we had our, our [00:19:00] daughter, he worked weekends. So it's like, okay, I'm not paying for a race and having to pay for a pet, you know, a babysitter and paying to go down and just, I'm like, no. So I really let anything even remotely athletic go for, you know, years and years and years and pretty much just chase, chase, you know, kids around.
I.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : And then I had some health issues around the time I turned 40. Some, some pretty health, serious health issues that were outta the blue. I ended up having, uh, two brain surgeries within two months, uh, right before I turned 40. Janice.
And it was kinda like, okay, you know, God's giving me a new lease on life and I'm hitting middle age and I wanna get back into, you know, keep, make sure I keep my health.
Ally: Wow, okay. me you're Don't think you're that interesting. That's so funny. Okay. It just makes me laugh. Everybody's like, oh, I don't know that I have much to say. I am like, okay, well, yeah, two brain surgeries,
Janice : yes.
Ally: okay. So how did you find out that you needed that? Like
Janice : I mean, the first one, I actually fought [00:20:00] migraines for about 20, 25 years. Pretty bad, but this had no correlation to it. Um, I ended up having some dizziness come on, over a course of a day. And unfortunately it was a day I was taking my Girl Scout troop down to spring Mill to horse ride, horse ride at fall break and was fighting a lot of dizziness, driving home and just praying that I'd get these little girls home, all safe and sound.
Um, woman had just a lot of dizziness and went into, I called my, my, my neurosurgeon and my doctor both, and they were just like, well, maybe you got like an inner ear infection or something, but if it's not better by tomorrow, you know, get into, you know, get into the hospital. It wasn't, and so I went into the hospital and they pretty much triaged me right away and took me back and they did a CAT scan and basically came in and said, you're not going home, you're having surgery on Monday.
You have a mass at the base of your brain and the neurosurgeon will be in tomorrow to talk to you. So you're like, that whole night I was like, okay. Do you know, what do you think when you hear a mass? You think cancer?
Ally: Great. You're like, okay, great. I'm dying.
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: what I [00:21:00] mean.
Janice : Yeah. so that was kind of scary. And um, he came in the next day and basically said it was called, what's a condition called cavernous angios, which is, like an aneurysm, but it's not a capillary. So basically I had a capillary blow out at the base of my brain and he said, it's hereditary. Um, I have no family history of any of that happening, so I'm always a trailblazer. Gotta be the tips of the bell curve. so they took that one out and then when I went back for a follow-up CAT scan, two months later, I had a second one up here.
And so it was enough and where it was located that I made the decision to have that one also removed.
Ally: yeah, yeah. That makes sense. Geez, that's wild.
Janice : So, but, you know, fully recovered and, um, they, they do, I haven't gone for an MRI for years and years and years, but at this point they said, yeah, there's probably just little spots every so often that up appear and reabsorb in the body and we just kind of watch 'em.
Ally: Wow. That is so crazy. crazy. And you say Girl Scouts, [00:22:00] so your daughter must have been pretty young. And then your, was your son born must have been born then too. 'cause they're a couple years apart,
Janice : Yeah, he was, he was young enough. He doesn't remember it. My daughter was probably like third or fourth grade, and yeah, she, she does remember it
Ally: right? Because I'm sure they had to shave your, like shave your whole head.
Janice : pretty much
Ally: or
Janice : the back of my head.
Ally: half? And then when they did the one in the front, did they just like shave part of your
Janice : They just did a little, so it wouldn't be too
Ally: too
Janice : you know, and that, so Yeah.
But it was, it was kind of a scary situation to go through. So, you know, after that, once I got into my early forties, I just was kinda like, I wanna do something to stay healthy. Um, 'cause it's gonna become more important as I get older.
And, so I just thought, well, I liked walking and I liked doing races and, uh, my daughter at that point was like, once she, she was a few years older, so she was in junior high so she could stay at home, you know, on Saturday mornings quick while I went down to do a five or day with, with my, so I started getting back into 'em and liked 'em.
And within, [00:23:00] oh, a couple of years, I, well, you know, I, I mean, within a year or so I started transitioning to, well, I can only walk so fast. I have, you know, from meeting me, I have real tiny little, I always call 'em little chipmunk legs and I can so fast. So I started going, okay, well let me start running in my neighborhood, you know, here, you know, three driveways here around the block here, around two blocks.
And that's just how it all came to. I'm gonna run the whole thing and that, so, and, uh, just transition totally. To running, you know, to totally running at that point
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : and that, and then getting,
Ally: ever, your kids were then old, too old, where you never pushed kids in strollers then.
Janice : no,
Ally: that
Janice : never did, he never did the jogging, stroke and things. I, I'm trying to think. I don't think when they were little, I don't even think that was a thing.
Ally: Yeah, which is interesting to think about.
Janice : Yes, yes.
Ally: And what's your husband's name again? Patrick.
Janice : Patrick.
Ally: Patrick. Okay. 'cause I met him. You call him your Sherpa, which I loved
Janice : he is my running Sherpa and my rock.
Ally: in almost 40 years of marriage, man.
So I met, [00:24:00] we just celebrated 11 years of marriage in May. yeah, man, it is hard 40 years.
Janice : I, I can't believe he hasn't wanted to trade me in on a new model.
Ally: I know we were joking about that. My husband and I, I was like, I can't believe, you know, you've survived this long with me, you know, and vice versa.
Janice : Yes.
Ally: just, you go through, you know, peaks and valleys. Certainly, at least, you know, in the time that I've been married. What, marriage advice would you give?
Janice : I guess probably the one thing I think we've tried to always live by is there's gonna be stresses always around you. You know, there's just no two ways. You're gonna have parts, parts of your life that really are gonna stress you guys. Totally. Whether it's a job, whether it's family, whether it's just whatever.
Um, you just have to focus and you can pull apart or you can pull together. And we've just always tried to pull together. you know, and just to get through it and just to be, I, I am not the most patient person, but I try to be patient with, he has the patience of job, uh, you know, um, so you [00:25:00] just, but just don't let these external things pull you apart
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : a lot of it could,
Ally: Right, right. And And what did Patrick do where he worked Weekends.
Janice : he, uh, worked for over 30 years for, um, PPG paints and managed a paint store.
Ally: Okay, alright. I'm surprised your wall behind you is not a different color. Then
Janice : Well, actually the color is pretty nice. It's actually pretty close to what we had actually redone all of our stuff when we lived in, um, our house right now. you know, we like the color. It's like a really, like soft gray, which is what we had done our house in. And it wasn't PPG, but, uh, we haven't started repainting yet, and I think at this point he's, he's like, I'm kind of over it.
Ally: I can only imagine after 30 years in the paint business
Janice : Yeah,
Ally: weekends, that would be challenging.
Janice : it was hard. I mean, there was a part of time where they were actually even open Sundays, but that didn't last real long. Um, their, I mean, their customer base is more, contractors, um,
Ally: makes sense.
Janice : to we're like Sherwin Williams and that are more, um, retail, uh, [00:26:00] or not the big box stores. Um, so he usually would have Sundays off, but Yeah.
Saturdays we went a lot of years where he would only have, you know, one Saturday, a month off or something.
It got better the farther we went, but when I first, it was starting to get into running. It wasn't much. So a lot of my states I did at first, and a lot of my, my races I did at first. he wasn't able to go with, which was, was kind of, i, I would go with a friend and we love traveling together and, and knocking off her states together.
She was pursuing her marathons for 50 states.
Ally: Oh, that's cool.
Janice : So, but it's nice now that, you know, he can go if we go all the time together.
Ally: Yeah. That's so much fun. 'cause you can make a Yeah. A little getaway out of
Janice : Yep, yep. We call him run s.
Ally: Run cas I mean, yeah. I love, love a run ca.
Janice : Yes,
Ally: and your kids growing up, did they play sports?
Janice : they did. They did. They were through, um, in grade school. They did, high school, they kind of, they stuck with CYO and, uh, and my daughter played for her high school one year for volleyball, but they both did volleyball. [00:27:00] He or she did volleyball. Uh, my son did basketball, football, he did track in grade school for a couple of years,
Ally: Okay.
Janice : was really showing signs of being a good middle distance runner.
But he just didn't like it. So I was like,
Ally: Dang it.
Janice : okay. But we always told, we always told our kids, you can do anything you want. But whatever you sign up for and commit to, you don't have to do it thereafter. But whatever period you commit for, you've gotta fulfill that commitment.
Ally: Yeah. Yeah. I like that.
Janice : And
Ally: do.
Janice : but we gave him a chance.
He did soccer one year, he did baseball. I think a couple seasons. But he really liked basketball. He played, the group that graduated from their small Catholic grade school, they actually put together their own little CYO team and played all through high school. They just, in
Ally: fun,
Janice : of those cases, we're just having fun. being together, you know?
And one of the dads basically to sign up, okay, I'll coach you guys, but I really, you don't need to be coached, you know, we're just let you play. So he, he enjoyed that quite a bit. Yeah.
Ally: That it's, you know, as I have my, I have a first grader's my oldest, right. So we're like, into sports now a little bit. but I leave it up to her if she wants to [00:28:00] try something. Like I asked her, I asked her, her friends were all playing basketball. I was like, do you wanna put basketball?
She's like, no. So I'm like, okay, well what do you wanna try? So her latest thing that she wants to try, which hopefully we can get into this summer, is like tennis.
Janice : Oh, fun.
Ally: so we'll see. But I really, she's a great runner. She did, a race that was at Holiday Park. Have you ever done the holiday park trail run?
Janice : No, but holiday park's so pretty, I.
Ally: it was gorgeous. And so they had a one mile run for kids, like
Janice : Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ally: she just loved it. And so I'm really hoping, you know, I don't wanna force her into anything she doesn't want to do, or, you know, doesn't enjoy. But I'm like crossing my fingers.
Janice : Yeah. Yeah.
Ally: I wanna be like you. I wanna have the opportunity to run a half marathon or marathon with my, with my girls at some point it'd be, I did with my husband once as well.
So has Patrick ever done races, any of them?
Janice : He has walked a few five Ks. Unfortunately, his, you know, every, every family has what does bad in their bodies. Um, his family has really [00:29:00] bad knees and he at this point has bone on bone arthritis in his knee. So we're doing all we can just to keep him to not get a knee replacement anytime soon.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : walked a couple, five Ks with me.
He would used to do 'em, but it's gotten to the point now his knee just swells up like a softball afterward.
Ally: Not worth it at all.
Janice : It's not.
Ally: I just, I love that he's your Sherpa and that you guys travel together. I wanna hear more about some of your race stories. Like I know you've won some age group awards here and there, um, you've run with your kids, like I mentioned. I mean, I bet you've run in all types of weather too.
You
Janice : Oh yeah.
Ally: the sleet rain,
Janice : Yep.
Ally: what are some of the races and stories that stand out for you amongst the 200 plus that you've run?
Janice : Oh gosh. Um, there's just,
Ally: it's
Janice : there, there there is. There really is, is so many. I mean I, I've done some really great races. just several, even like fun to do. I know I did one and I actually went back, I had the shirt on today from it, from when I did it the second time. Um, it was the new bo half in, Cedar Rapids, I, Iowa.
Ally: [00:30:00] okay.
Janice : the first time I did it, it was probably back in like 2015, something like that. It was a, they only had the half, I think there was not even 200 people did it. It started down, down around there. They have like a river area, kinda like, like a broad ripley type area, but it's along the river.
Ally: okay.
Janice : In the parking lot of a bar.
So they set up the start line, it was a blow up, you know, start line thing. Started the race and my husband told me, actually they said they were deflating it and a guy ran up and he said, I'm sorry I'm late. And whatever. They reinflated him so he could start. Then they deflated it, dragged it over to the alley where the finish was, reinflated it, and he said everybody left and he went to go get breakfast.
'cause he said nobody's gonna be finishing for like an hour and a half. And then they came back and set up for the finish. It was really, really small and it was just really cool. Um, the, the medal I got was actually a handmade, looks like something like a fourth grader would make, but it's.
Ally: one of those. Yeah. That's so
Janice : Yeah, it's so cool.
And I am, Polish and Slavic and I did not realize that the natural national, [00:31:00] you know, Polish Czech museum is there. so, uh, that was cool. And apparently it was settled by, you know, that, you know, Czechoslovakians and Bohemians and this type of thing. So it was cool.
to find out that. But when you finish the race, it was so funny.
You didn't get, you know, you got a banana and water, but they didn't have pretzels or cookies or bagels. They had homemade kakis. Exactly. I had gone to Polish Heaven, you know, I. mean they were just amazing.
Ally: up
Janice : And it was just so fun to do the race. And so then when I went back the next time to do it, I brought the medal and I had taken pictures with both medals and the race director was like, I've gotta take pictures.
That is so cool that.
you did, did it. And I did it 'cause my both ears from my Iowa and that was really,
Ally: wait. Okay, so before we move on, for people who don't know what a Keala she is, will you explain it?
Janice : Oh, sure. It is sort of like, like a Danish, but it has, doesn't have a lot of the sugary sweet on it?
but it's fruit filling. Kinda like think of like a Danish, but the dough is just absolutely delicious. so it's not like a
Ally: were fruit filled. I've only had 'em [00:32:00] where they're like eggs and sausage inside,
Janice : Oh, yeah. No,
Ally: amazing.
Janice : they were fruit filled and they were wonderful.
Ally: sweet ones sound really good
Janice : Yeah,
Ally: in Carmel there's at least one that I can picture, like on a hundred and 16th Street
Janice : yeah. There's a
Ally: Guilford area. a restaurant that has them. but yeah, I was introduced to those when I worked in software.
Somebody brought 'em in one day for breakfast and I'll just, I was hooked from there. I'm
Janice : Yes, yes. They're very, very good. So I mean, those were fun. And just like, I said, I've done some really beautiful races. I mean, running up in South Dakota to run around the black, the Black Hills area. I mean, you just, you, you can't create beauty like that. And, probably one of the prettiest races that I really loved was I did, uh, the vacation race grant, uh, grand Tetons last year.
And
Ally: Oh, wow.
Janice : breathtakingly beautiful. It was a beautiful day. I mean, a crystal blue sky, and you're running. And I, I got to the point, I'm glad they had like a four hour cutoff because I was stopping taking, I think I took 80 pictures, literally 80 [00:33:00] pictures, uh, that I had to go through and clean off that.
And then it was getting to the point where someone was wanting to take a selfie, you want me to take your picture? And I would stop and take their picture.
Ally: Right. You're like,
Janice : It was just so
Ally: is
Janice : pretty. It was just so pretty. It was just so pretty.
Ally: Ugh.
Janice : That. But I also love doing, you know, some of the, the city runs I did, I did Memphis. I did St. Jude's. Um, and it was one where
Ally: would love to do that one.
Janice : you just feel like, because they announced at the beginning of the race that there was like 22,000 of us doing it, and we had raised 15 million for St. Jude. So there you're feeling like every step you're taking, you're like, this matters. It matters. you know, And
Ally: think about the kids that are hurting and suffering.
Janice : yeah,
Ally: do they, are they only cancer based or are they all like kids
Janice : there any, any childhood disease,
Ally: childhood disease?
Janice : I think any, but I think cancer is their focus. I believe.
Ally: yeah. but I just think, yeah, you just think of those kids and then my whole family did it once without me, which is really funny now because I'm like the runner of the family.
Um, but they just said, you know, the K kids and patients that are out there like [00:34:00] cheering and it was just so incredibly
Janice : I think the whole city of Memphis comes out that day for it. It is just incredible. It, it's just incredible.
Ally: someday.
Janice : so some of the other races, well, and like I said in Memphis was really cool because when, I just drug my husband all around. I, I didn't want, we, we had an Airbnb that was up like a mile or two away and I said, no, we're not gonna walk back. We went to, uh, and we went to have, breakfast.
We did brunch, brunch at the, uh, Peabody Hotel, which is the hotel that has the ducks that come down off the elevator. So enough for that, they had like,
Ally: about that because that's a whole thing.
Janice : it is a whole thing.
And we went and sought to see 'em done, but then we went for this really like swanky brunch. And here I'm like all gross, sweaty, but you know, I'm in my running clothes, but it's like, well, I have a, I have a credit card so they'll take my money.
Ally: Yes. They
Janice : Um, but it was really cool. The ducks actually live up in a penthouse and they bring 'em down in the morning and take 'em up at night and they had to roll out this red carpet. I mean, people will like be there like an hour ahead of time to see the ducks and they'll just wa wa, wa wa wall and then go to the fountain and swim around the fountain all day.
And then, then they go back up to the penthouse for the night.
Ally: I [00:35:00] mean, what a life.
Janice : I know, I know
Ally: a life. I wonder how they select them. Like there's so many, or is it all incestuous now where like the only ducks that can live there are the ones that are now born there? Or like, I don't
Janice : they, they go out and get 'em and apparently these ducks, it's only like a five month thing and then they get turned back out into the wild. Yeah,
Ally: Oh, well I guess that's kind of fair. 'cause
Janice : yeah,
Ally: would probably be mad
Janice : yeah.
Ally: they're taking great care of 'em, obviously.
Janice : kidding. And apparently They just learn really quick what they have to do. So, no.
Ally: amazing.
Janice : Um, that was really cool.
Ally: I think this would've been like episode six of this podcast, Janice. I have to shout out my friend Alex Baker
Janice : Uhhuh
Ally: because he's a St. Jude Hero and he was the one I think, who first told me about this duck thing because I
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: never heard of it in my life. And I was like, you have to be making this up.
So I've since watched videos of it, which I would recommend people who are also like, what in the world should go look it
Janice : Yes,
Ally: 'cause
Janice : yes, it is really cool. it was really cool. So we, we went there for lunch and then we ended up? walking out to a, [00:36:00] a studio where Elvis recorded his first new stuff and did that. So we were walking around, long story, long, we were walking around most of the day and we came back and it was probably about just under like six hours for the marathon.
So it was kinda getting to the end of the part and, but people were still there and people were still finishing. so we're cheering people as they're going along and we're walking where we were gonna walk back to the Airbnb and there was a medic there that was walking into this parking lot to her car.
And I thanked her. I always tried to do that and thank the medics and, and the police and everything that are out there. But I said, well, thank you. Hopefully you had a very quiet day. And she said, Yeah.
we did. And then she began to tell me how she was a St. Jude child and telling me her story that like age four or something, like they told her parents, you basically, she's got a month left.
And then we don't think she might die within the next month. And she's now, you know, an adult and has kids of her own. And it was just such, such an amazing story. It was just such an amazing story to talk to her about. And, and she says, I do the race every year as my way to give back. You know, and
Ally: Oh,
Janice : it's just, it was just wonderful.
It was just a wonderful story to talk with her about.
Ally: Yeah. That is [00:37:00] crazy. That's why you say thank you to people and just talk to people because are incredible. That's, that's really neat. and what was the first race that you did with either of your kids? Who was the first one you ran with?
Janice : My daughter. um, my daughter, her first half was the Indie Mini, uh, I can't remember what year it was. I believe we walked it. I know by the, if not, we might have run some of it. Um, so that was the one with her. And then, My son's first half was the Chicago half, up in Chicago. And, and it's like, it usually falls about, they have it like the, it's considered like the last big race before the marathon, so it's usually three weeks before the Chicago marathon. and it was really fun. I, I had done it a couple times and so he was going to school up in Chicago and I, I'm sending him, you know, here's a training list and here's what you can do and whatever and, you know, show up. And what do most, you know, kids not do? You know, they pretty,
Ally: to their parents. They're like,
Janice : you know.
Ally: it.
Janice : Yeah, I got it. They got it. So you basically, I, I'm 19 years old, I'm gonna roll out a bed, do a half marathon with mom [00:38:00] and, it was kind of hot that day, so he started cramping. Unfortunately, he
Ally: Uh,
Janice : I'm so proud of him. He pushed through and we did it. And I know a couple of times he was just like, I think, I think at one point I was probably around 90 half marathons at that point, and he's just like, I don't see how you've done 90 of these.
And I'm like, I just don't, I just don't rule out of bed and say, Hey, let's do a half marathon.
Ally: Yeah. This does not feel good, and they don't all feel good, but
Janice : Yeah, no they don't.
Ally: decent if you're prepared. Yeah.
Janice : But to much to discredit. I mean, like within that week he, you know, he's like texting me, mom, the top of my legs are sore. They hurt. And I'm like, is it the front? And he goes, yeah. I said, is it sharp pain or ache? Ache? I said, it's just your quads.
Ally: Yep. They just worked
Janice : you, you used them, you gave him a good workout and whatever.
But by the end of that week, we were talking and he was really into like the rocky movies at that time. And within a week or so of that, I was like, well, you know, there's two races that start and end on the rocky stairs in Philadelphia. And the text back to him was, [00:39:00] I'm in.
Ally: That's pretty good.
Janice : so I got him do to do a second half in, uh, Philadelphia.
We did, one, one that was in the fall. It was wasn't, I think it was the rock and roll. It was the rock and roll.
Ally: Okay. Yeah. That's so fun.
Janice : So we did.
Ally: did you end up doing a marathon? Your daughter's done a full marathon, correct? Yes, she's
Janice : she has done. a full, um, she's Done. several, a couple of fulls.
Ally: Okay. And which one was her first?
Janice : Her first was, um, uh, nationwide here in Columbus.
Ally: Oh, okay.
Janice : Yes,
Ally: heard nothing but great things about that race.
Janice : that again, is a very good one. I mean, it's, it's kind of like Memphis on a little smaller scale. And, every mile is a sponsor child from Nationwide Hospital.
Ally: Ugh.
Janice : And the mile you got, the mile I really wasn't prepared for, I think it's mile 11.
cause the half and full you basically, and this is kind of you, the full, you, you, you turn and you go a half a mile to finish the half marathon and the full then keeps going. So you run the, it's Really nice. if you wanna run it with someone who's doing the Fuller 'cause you can run [00:40:00] virtually the whole race together.
But mile 11 is their angel mile and they don't have a child sponsor. They have white flags along it. And it's the families of children who have passed. That radiation and that just my first time I did it. I mean, I was just sobbing. I mean, it's just so, it, it hits you really hard.
Ally: Yeah.
Oh my gosh. Well, I mean the Gold Mile in the Indie mini's hard
Janice : Oh, it it's just like that too.
Ally: but I'm, I'm just saying like, you're just like, wow. When you get there, the emotions like
Janice : Yes, it is. It is.
Ally: those emotions. It's really special that they do that.
Janice : Yes. But that. was, I think it was that, yeah, that, I think that was her first, 'cause that would've been in October. We had the crazy thing, 'cause half an attics and marathon maniacs have this thing, they used to call you a double agent if you got into both clubs. 'cause you have to qualify to be into both clubs and then there's different levels you can keep moving up and that type of thing.
Um, and, and for both clubs, it's the minimum is three halves or three folds in 90 [00:41:00] days I think it is. And that and that. And if you did it both. They called you a double agent. Well then they, then, of course they made up that you've an official double agent club. That if you did it and you didn't do, you know, whatever you were called a double, you were double agent zero.
But if you wanted an actual number, you had to do three halves and three fulls in 90 days.
Ally: Okay.
Janice : So she and I did that 'cause we wanted an official number.
Ally: What?
Janice : So
Ally: okay. So which race? What? How'd you do that?
Janice : I think I did, I did two like in like September, I think two halves in September. And then I did Fort Bend. So I had my three halves knocked out right away. I think I did date and I think I did Air Force and one other, I think it was Geist and then like, Fort Ben. And then I did my fulls. I did um, nationwide and I did monumental and then I did, um, route 66.
And so we did those as our three. We, so she, her first marathon, she did three right away, pretty much back to back. and
Ally: That's [00:42:00] amazing.
Janice : I didn't realize it at the time, but I was having some IT band issues and when I did Nationwide, my knee started hurting my left knee. And then when I did monumental, it really started hurting.
So I'm like, okay, I gotta go in and see my sports doctor.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : He was great. He was looking at it, he said, yep, it's just your IT band. We just need to get you into some, you know, pt. And I always would love him 'cause he would always just say, what do you have coming up? We have to get you ready for,
Ally: Right. I love that. Not like, Hey, you need to stop. You need to slow down. It's
Janice : he always was, what do you have coming up that we have to get you bed for? And I looked at him and said, I have another marathon a week from Sunday in Oklahoma. And he is like, he's like, We're gonna catch into therapy every, almost every day. And,
Ally: yeah,
Janice : and I ended up running, uh, the Route 66, and I don't know if you've ever been to Tulsa, but it's, it's, it's
Ally: I
Janice : rolling.
Ally: but in
Janice : very rolling. It's very rolling. It's not flat like the song, I guess you gotta go further west for it to be flat. so the first beginning is you've got about a quarter mile of downhill. My bag was [00:43:00] already going, I don't like you. I don't like you. No, you've got 26 more miles to do. and so by about the halfway point I was walking the whole, the whole rest of it.
and I ended up running into a couple of my friends and we all three were Like, we were like the walking wounded.
one had, uh, wanted, had something, wanted something else going. So we were just like, we're just having fun, just gonna get it done. And it was, You know, it was fun.
Ally: got it done. That's to have to, I mean, walking that far in pain, like to me that's hard. That's harder than running. That's harder
Janice : It.
Ally: would've much rather be running.
Janice : Because we were like at about six hours to finish.
Ally: it's
Janice : It was a long six hours.
Ally: yeah,
Janice : was like, okay, maybe I'll take I can, I think I can go a little faster than, and maybe jog a little, but I thought
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Janice : I'm by myself and I'm like, no, I'm just gonna stick with them and we'll just whatever it is, It is. you know?
Yeah.
Ally: It doesn't matter. So you're getting it, getting it done and getting that double agent status.
Janice : So meanwhile, my daughter was long finished ahead of time and she, she and my husband were drinking beers at the finish line, and she actually [00:44:00] messaged me at one point going, she's like, did you die?
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : And I'm like, no, that mile 26 was,
Ally: am
Janice : and Donna, and we took a selfie and sent it to her, I think, and we're almost there.
Ally: that's awesome. And so to celebrate like achieving status of like double agent status in the club, like how do they celebrate that?
Janice : There's a lot of us. So there, there's a lot of 'em. So you can, you can buy a shirt?
or a jacket. It's just more, it's more pride of saying, yeah, I'm in, I'm in at that level. Um, so yeah. And I'm just like, Okay. I'm not getting any higher than the base level and double agent 'cause I'm not gonna,
Ally: Yeah. You're like, I'm not interested in, in that I need to, I should sign up for the 50 states because I've done at least 10 states.
Janice : yeah.
Ally: I remember talking to Todd Oliver actually from, who founded the Carmel Marathon. He, that was around the time he decided he was gonna go after all 50 was when he had about 10.
He's
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: I could just keep going to other states,
Janice : Yes,
Ally: my husband might murder me if I like publicly declare that, that I would like to do it. But [00:45:00] I just think the more I think about it, the more I would like to just go new places and
Janice : yes.
Ally: the city by running through it. I just think it's such a fun way to visit somewhere, like you said, a run.
Janice : Oh, and I love it too, because a lot of times too, if it's like a city course, there's been areas where I've run it and I've, I'll wait till like if we're able to stay till the next day, if not, I'll wait till they reopen the course and I'll like tell my husband, it's like, we have to drive back. This was so pretty here, you know, and I've taken to areas and it's just one of those things where you see so much.
And even when I lived in Indianapolis, I don't know how many times running downtown, I would take a run from a different direction and see an angle of a building or something, and it's like, I know there's one that's on the circle. It used to be where the Starbucks, where the Starbucks was.
Ally: Circle
Janice : When you come from the east or you're heading, you know what?
Looking west, the, the cornering work on it is just beautiful. And I mean, running, it's like I had never noticed it. I mean, and I'd lived in Indianapolis, you know, at that point probably at least. 30 years. And you're, [00:46:00] that's the thing too. You can see things and take in sites and, kind of sometimes as slow as I'm going, you can really take 'em in.
Well, but I mean, you really get to appreciate stuff that if you were in a car or even riding in a car, you wouldn't necessarily notice and, and just take in the, the flavor of the city where you're running.
Ally: Right. Well, and not to mention all the people I'm sure that you've met
Janice : Yes,
Ally: too, not just through the clubs that you're involved in, but then also just like at races
Janice : exactly.
Ally: and typically for most races, Like is there typically somebody else at a race that's doing the 50 states thing?
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Ally: And typically for most races, Like is there typically somebody else at a race that's doing the 50 states thing?
Janice : So most times, yes. Unless I've done a really, really small race or something, yeah.
there'll be somebody there. And, and a lot of times too, I'll just get on my, my club sites and saying, who's gonna be.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Janice : know, here this weekend I'm running, you know, like Coeur d'Alene, is anybody gonna be there? Um, and, and that type of thing.
and some of the clubs have where you can, they have like a member list once you get like a website that web members can go to or the [00:48:00] Facebook page just for members. Um, and a list here, you know, list where people are gonna be at. so it is nice to see that. And there's been a few races that haven't had any other 50 state, but, typically I go to a race, uh, somebody will be like,
Ally: Right. You're
Janice : and then I'll, I'll be like my kids.
It's like, Hey, I ran into at the race. I'm like, of course you did. Or of course you made a new friend at the race, you know, when, um, it's fun. And that's been, I mean, I look at my wall and I, I I, I don't really think about how many miles and I don't think about the races that were hard or like, I've told you, I, I don't consider myself an athlete in any way, but I look at my wall and it's more of, I.
The memories and the friendships and the beautiful places in this country we've been able to see. Uh, it's just, I think, more of that than the fact that I ran and the miles and whatever.
Ally: Yeah.
that's, really, love that. ' what a great way to think about it. 'cause I think, you know, especially for, as somebody who [00:49:00] is trying to chase my fast times,
Janice : Mm-hmm.
Ally: to get better and faster and chasing my best, I'm really trying hard to make a conscious effort to go back to the why I do it.
Janice : Right.
Ally: not for the finished time, it's for the journey
Janice : Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ally: and to, to enjoy it because I, the last thing I wanna do is burn myself out of something I love so much.
Janice : Right, right. And I know, I mean, the fact that I've been running for 20 years, it's like, you know, my fastest halves were actually in my early fifties. I.
Ally: Just so cool.
Janice : And that, and I mean I've, gotten the goal that most half marathoners wanna do. And as I've broken two hours, I think four times, um, I don't ever see that happening.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : I mean, how Many people are like,
even the pace I'm running now, I have friends that are running and they're just like, I wish I could get down to the pace you're running now. So I, I don't take that for granted, you know, I don't take that, that ever for granted. And, yeah, I wish my times would be a little faster, but then I'm like, okay, well maybe I'd work more on speed work or maybe whatever.
I'm, not really [00:50:00] good about doing that. So
Ally: just not interested. It's like,
Janice : it's kind of one of the things, obviously I really don't want it that badly. 'cause I would do those things, you know, if I really did. And, and when I run in, when I run in another state or another place, it's like, I don't just wanna put my head down. I know I gotta try to sub two or, you know, whatever, or two 10 or whatever, because it's like I'm gonna miss seeing things and I don't wanna miss it.
So.
Ally: true. That is true. When is the Columbus Marathon? The nationwide? Is it in the
Janice : It, it is always the weekend of Columbus Day.
Ally: Okay. It's funny 'cause I was like, I don't know when that is.
Janice : It's like the, it, it, it varies. I think it's the third Monday in October.
Ally: Okay.
Janice : Yeah. Range. So.
Ally: do you host people? Like do, 'cause I'm imagining like a big race like that people come in town. Do you ever host people from the club?
Janice : We've hold, we've posted some, not so much here 'cause we've, you, I think a lot of people have already done Ohio, but when we were in Indianapolis Oh yeah. We would have
Ally: All the time.
Janice : all the time. I mean all of our bedrooms would be full and, you know, everybody would be [00:51:00] like, you know, can we come stay with you? And it got to the point where people would be coming in on Fridays and I'd be like, okay, if you don't wanna go out to dinner, I'll make lasagna, you know, and salad and we'll just can sit around and visit and, you know, and never be, be like, this is so awesome.
And I'd be like, no. It's just nice to have more time to spend with your friends as opposed to, you know, 10 minutes in the starting corral beforehand, or, you know, when you're doing a, you know, a picture before the race or something like that. It is just nice to sit around and talk with people. Of course, we would sit around and usually I'd have three more races I'd be signing up for, you know, by the time we talk.
Ally: somebody be talking about what they're doing in a month and you're like, well, I could
Janice : Yeah, you're missing out. You gotta be there, kind of thing, you know? So, but yeah, we would have a lot of people there. And I, I tell people here, anytime anybody wants to do Ohio, you know, a lot of my friends have already hit their 50 states or they, you know, so I've got some friends now that are working on continents or the clin, the Canadian provinces or things like that or, or in and Out are not running.
But I, we've had, they've, they've come out just to visit us.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : So,
Ally: nice too.
Janice : I mean, so that's where the thing is, you know, you'll have friendships [00:52:00] that will just carry beyond, you know, your, your running days. And That's really nice And that, and we're, uh, we're going to, uh, min Minneapolis in, , September. And, I'll be doing a, uh, race there and Yeah.
we're actually gonna be staying with friends there, so it's like, yay.
Ally: That's so fun.
Janice : forward to seeing That so it'll be really nice. But Yeah.
we always love to host people if they come. And we have a little less room here now than, than we did in our, in Indianapolis, but we still have, we still have plenty of space.
Ally: Yeah. Yeah. That's so nice of you. How, how old are you now, Janice? I normally wouldn't ask, but I have to know.
Janice : I turned,
Ally: me already.
Janice : I turned 63 last month.
Ally: It's just, I mean, I wanna be you when I grow up.
Like literally like look, I mean just how 63 and married for 40 years, man. And so do your kids have any kids yet? Are they married or where do they live?
Janice : my son still lives in the Indianapolis area. He lives up in Carmel. , And [00:53:00] that he's not married. and I have two grand cats with him.
Ally: Two grand cats. Perfect,
Janice : And then my daughter and son-in-law live here about 10 minutes from us, which was really the big goal. Have us move out here. So I have a wonderful little granddaughter that we'll turn to next month.
Ally: Oh,
Janice : So I just can't get enough of her.
Ally: That is so, that is like the best.
Janice : It is, it
Ally: I'm going
Janice : is,
Ally: nephew's, , second birthday here in a couple days. So yeah, it's, it's, how fun is that? That
Janice : it is It is. And she's to the point now, she can say grandma and grandpa and, um, when she sees us, she'll just come running towards us, just going, grandma, grandpa,
Ally: That's,
Janice : you just, you just can't do anything better than that. It is the in fact, Sunday she, we, she had a slumber party over here Sunday night, uh, so that my kids could end up out and we just took her to daycare in the morning and, and she's, she just, Yeah.
she's really comfortable staying here.
And I, I, I just can't imagine not being this close. For the last two years, it's been so much that if we were coming from Indianapolis,
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Janice : you know, and only doing it maybe [00:54:00] once a month, I mean, how much we would've missed. And I. Such a blessing, such a blessing to be able to be here and love the town we live in.
It's a, it's a small town. It's about 40,000 and it's a little historical town, and, but yet we're,
Ally: name of it? I think we talked about this
Janice : yeah,
Ally: I first
Janice : Delaware, Ohio, which confuses people to say, I live in Del No, we thought you lived in Ohio. Well, Delaware, Ohio.
Ally: Oh. that is really confusing.
Janice : It is kind of confusing. It is kind of confusing. Um, and that, but it's, it was formed, , Rutherford b Hayes was born here,
Ally: Okay.
Janice : know,
Ally: That's a president, right? God.
Janice : Right. I think he was 19th presidents. I guess I, I gotta go back and read the, the plaque downtown. Um, so the town was founded around the, , mid 18 hundreds.
Ally: Wow.
Janice : it has a really nice little historic downtown. Every first Friday of the month they close the streets down and get food trucks in and have things going on.
And they had an art festival there this weekend. So it's just a really nice, quaint little small town, which is not that I didn't love Indianapolis, I did, but it's really nice to be in a small town after living in a city of a million.
Ally: [00:55:00] Yeah.
Janice : But yet kind of the same thing. we're a half hour from downtown Columbus, so, and Columbus is really very much a sister city kind of feel to Indianapolis.
It's about the same.
Ally: with that. Having visited, yeah.
Janice : yeah. It's really,
Ally: vibe.
Janice : it sure does. And so we can go down if we wanna do things. and it has a really, a, so much to offer, so it's been really nice. We had, we had, we had talked about moving out here for quite a few years with the, with, because I, we figured our, our son-in-law and daughter would stay here, but we thought it would be a little farther down the pike 'cause um, both my husband and I, mothers are still alive.
and that my, my mom will be, um, 89 in July and my husband's mother is 101 and still lives there.
Ally: of town.
Janice : I mean, it's, she's amazing. So we kind of figured we wouldn't move till laughter. 'cause again, we've pretty much doubled the distance from where we are from them. but it's worked out. It's worked out fine.
We go and see them as much as we can. And you know, my mom does not drive. I mean, she wouldn't drive down to Indianapolis anymore for quite some time, which is [00:56:00] good. But we're gonna bring her here for like a week around, my granddaughter's birthday to stay and see her too. So she's really looking forward to that.
Ally: that's amazing. Like 89 and still able to like make that trip. And I cut you off. You said 101. Does she still live? Where?
Janice : in her home. down in Bedford.
Ally: That's what I thought you were gonna say. That's crazy.
Janice : Yeah.
But with six kids. I mean, her Patrick's one sister lives fairly close to her and goes and sees her and helps. But he's got five other siblings and they do a pretty good job of. Coming and helping and staying and, and that type of thing as she needs it. She doesn't need continual, but I mean, they'll come.
If, his sister's gonna be outta town or anything, one of the will come in for three, four days to stay with her. And, I can't get down as much to her. And both, both of my moms, what I'll do is anytime we're going to see them, I have like three different types. I make lasagna and like a chicken casserole and like meat noodles and I'll freeze 'em in like little mini
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Janice : take, you know, 30 or 40 meals to them and then that, that they can just keep in the freezer, [00:57:00] you know?
So that works out just so well and it's like, what's the least I do? And they don't complain about my cooking. It's nothing fancy, you know?
Ally: Yeah. Yeah.
Janice : since we've been the distance,
Ally: The,
Janice : So we try to help with that and where we can.
Ally: yeah. Yeah. Wow. Okay, so which states do you have left for? Round two.
Janice : and I'll do 'em in the order 'cause I've got them all booked. 'cause otherwise I can't think about it. Idaho will be in this coming weekend. I have Alaska in July,
Ally: Hmm.
Janice : South Dakota.
in August, um, Minnesota in September, and then I will finish next February in Georgia.
Ally: Fun. What race in Georgia is that?
Janice : It's Skidaway, which is in Savannah, near the Savannah area, which is why I picked the race. I, I just love Savannah. I've been there twice and just absolutely adore Savannah.
Ally: yeah. I was so intrigued by the every women's marathon they had the inaugural
Janice : Yes,
Ally: in Savannah, and I was so tempted, I really wanted to do it.
Janice : yes
Ally: yeah, season of life right now, it's, it's tough with little [00:58:00] kids like
Janice : it is. I can't even imagine.
Ally: all the things that I want to do. but yeah, I would love to make it to Savannah even just to visit, but yeah, of course run would be
Janice : It definitely is. Don't, don't go there in like the hot of summer 'cause it's so hot there. But it's a, it's a very unique city and I just really love the flavor and the vibe of it and the history of it. And so, I went, so I, when I was looking at, when I had about, I don't know, 10 or 12 states left, I was looking at what I have left and kind of went, what do I want my 50th to be?
I didn't want it to be Alaska, um,
Ally: did already, right?
Janice : already. And I had, you know, my sister came for it and we had probably about 25 of us that did The race and everything. 'cause we were all kind of at that point, you know, chasing our 50 states. And then we, we all stayed and did a week's inner passage cruise. So I thought it was, it was just amazing and I know nobody would be able to come again.
And so I thought no. And, I didn't need to do Hawaii again. 'cause when I went to Hawaii, I did four halves when I was there.
Ally: How would you live there for like two months or,
Janice : I was there if we were [00:59:00] there, I think for 11 days, and I did four half marathons
Ally: that's wild.
Janice : and we hopped three islands and did a bunch of sightseeing. So, you know,
Ally: be fun. I would be
Janice : I mean, I would love to go back to Hawaii, but I didn't necessarily have the need to do that for, for, you know, for my 50 states. So again, just I thought, well, there really wasn't a state where it's like, and then I started thinking, well, if I could find a race, like I said, then if I could find a race in Savannah and friends saying, oh gosh, we'll definitely come out for it.
And so it actually, it's registration opened. So while we were coming out to do the mini, I had a list of my friends, I went through my Facebook thing, okay, make sure I don't wanna miss anybody. And, and wrote ones up on Facebook. And I literally sat there in the car emailing, personally, emailing everybody.
And I think at this point I probably have close to 50 people that.
are either strong maybes or a strong yes. So it's gonna be so fun.
Ally: It's gonna be so fun. When in February, is that
Janice : It is the, it is February 28th.
Ally: 28th. Okay. Yeah.
Janice : So temperature-wise it should be, I mean, it might be a little [01:00:00] cool. the only thing I'm kind of thinking about is hopefully we don't get any bad weather 'cause we're gonna drive to it,
Ally: Oh right. Yeah. Yeah. Fingers crossed for that. Well,
Janice : but, but driving, if anything's gonna be rolling in, we could always leave a couple days ahead of time or something.
Ally: you could always email the race director and ask them to make sure the weather's good for
Janice : Yeah, Yeah. We wanna have good weather all the way from, from Columbus, Ohio to, you know, Savannah, Georgia.
Ally: excuse me, I need you to plan If you
Janice : Is that a problem? Can we, do that? Yeah.
Ally: can we make that happen?
Janice : Yeah. So that'll be just a really fun and a chance to just see friends and celebrate and,
Ally: yeah.
Janice : yeah.
Ally: my gosh. And then, there's a couple other topics I wanna cover. One is metals, like the, looks of some metals. Do you have, you mentioned like a handmade one. Are there other metals that stand out as like some of your most favorite?
Janice : Yeah,
I mean, I've got some that are there. There's several do that are handmade that are really kind of neat to have. yeah, I'm trying to think how, what some of my favorites, I mean, they're just, a lot of 'em are just like massive and I'm just like, okay. Massive doesn't necessarily, um,
Ally: really [01:01:00] like that. I
Janice : they do the, the weightier the better.
Ally: like 'em
Janice : I mean, one I got when I did Space Coast is it's the, it's the shuttle, the space shuttle. I would, have to like see a chiropractor for a month if I.
even tried to put it around my neck.
Ally: Wow. Yeah. See, that's not, that's not any
Janice : But it's gorgeous and, and, but it's cool. but Yeah. I'm just trying to think. Let me kind of, I mean, Disney.
Ally: spinning ones? I know the Indie Mini has a car one that moved. That was an old one.
Janice : Yeah, that I, I got that one. That was one of my Disney Disney's Cool. I mean the She Power, I love the stained glass and one year they had one that, it was almost all like stained glass and that was really cool. And I did really like that. gosh, I should have thought about that a little more. Caramel has always had really, really nice medals
Ally: with that too. Yeah.
Janice : and that really, I probably did, if I had to pick one.
I really couldn't even, I mean, I love my first Alaska one. It's not super huge. It's like, I dunno if you can see it. It's,
Ally: Uhhuh
Janice : and,
Ally: it's like a normal size.
Janice : that year they, the theme was the Northern Lights. And
Ally: That's cool.
Janice : I love the northern, I mean, the shirt starts, like, it goes from like the greens to the [01:02:00] purple. Everything's, and I, I love the Northern Lights.
And so I thought that was,
Ally: seen them. I need to,
Janice : oh, actually we've seen 'em twice while we've lived here.
Ally: that's crazy. I, around here, some people have seen it, but I, I don't
Janice : Yeah. They weren't very good.
Ally: see it. I wanna see it. When you like, really see it
Janice : Yes, I'm hoping maybe, um, it's not within the season when we go up to, Alaska.
Ally: Okay.
Janice : when I did my Alaska, when I was looking at Alaska, I had picked a race in Fairbanks, the first, weekend in October. This would've been this and I was really hoping it would've worked out 'cause it would've been my 49th state for my 49th state.
And I didn't know during the Northern Light season, and, and in Fairbanks you have like, a 90% chance of seeing them, um, if there's any uh, Northern lights, you know, solar activity. and so we had the race. I booked the race. I'd actually reached out and said anybody done it? And I got good feedback on it.
So I actually registered for the race. And when we did Alaska the first time we did Anchorage South. And then we didn't do, so we didn't get to go to Denali and I said, we're doing [01:03:00] Denali. I have to do Denali this time. And I also really wanted to do North Pole Alaska. Which is kinda like Santa Claus, Indiana.
It's always Christmasy. And, and that's when, That's where kids go to the post office and mail their letters. That's where it gets post that is North Pole, Alaska. I got race booked and we were getting on like early, early this year to look at booking. They have a train that runs from Fairbanks down to Denali, stays overnight and goes back and I thought, Oh, how cool.
We'll do that. I pulled up in October, it was all grayed out and I'm like, is it already all sold out and whatever? Well, I started looking, the train stopped running in September for the winter.
And so then it's like, Okay. I've gotta give up doing Fairbanks. And there wasn't anything up that way that, that was the only race up there and there wasn't a race that would work out.
So I'm doing, doing one through the same race director. I did my first race in, but a different race. So we'll just kinda keep our fingers crossed that you might get, might get to See 'em.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: okay. And what about race shirts? Like what's your [01:04:00] favorite material of a race shirt?
Janice : summer. I love like the, like the silky wi wicking, you know, that they do now. Really like that. I'm probably too, for a long sleeve, I kinda like that the best for, you know, running that I'll just absorb ice and everything. I,
Ally: Yeah. Do you have, I mean, do you keep them,
Janice : I have kept most of them. I had to,
Ally: of shirts.
Janice : and I mean, and when I first started doing like the five and 10 Ks, you didn't even get a shirt,
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : And I can remember when I did, I, I, I think I mentioned to you when I did, um, Fort Ben, the first time I did it, I got like a long sleeve cotton white shirt and I'm like,
Ally: Yay.
Janice : and that, so those have gone by the wayside. Um, and. I am putting aside, I am hoping that when I finish, I'm kind of picking one shirt from each state. And my, my aunt does quilting, so I'm gonna ask her to put the quilts.
Ally: That
Janice : So some, and so that's the thing too. I, if one starts wearing out or starts looking like it's [01:05:00] gonna be washed out a little bit, looks before it gets washed out, I don't let it get to that point if I wanna put it away.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Janice : so I do like That, but like I said, probably from a design, I said I really liked my, Alaska shirt. It was really a cool design
Ally: That's really neat.
Janice : and it was really a cool design. And, and that, that, that's probably one of my favorite long sleeve shirts, um, that I, that I really, really like. but again, like I said, material, like I said, they've, they've evolved so much.
I mean, you,
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : do races and you never got medals, you know, you never got shirts. you know, you, you got your banana and your bottle of water and that was it.
Ally: even put it on the internet. You couldn't even share it on Facebook.
Janice : there wasn't that at that time.
Ally: a high five
Janice : Yep. And then you went home.
Ally: you, and then you went home.
Janice : Yep. And when I first started doing the races and everything, the walks and everything, 'cause you know, nobody was there.
So it's like, okay, I finished the race and get my water and my banana and come home
Ally: Yeah. Just like, woo hoo.
Janice : and then, you know, then that was my day, you know, and they've changed so much for now. Yes. Shirts and metals are just, I mean, I did one that was a 5K up in Noblesville several years ago for Memorial Day. And I mean, in [01:06:00] the medal literally is like this big and It's a five three and, and hanging my medals, they're hung chronologically.
So my oldest was, Yeah.
but,
Ally: That's fun.
Janice : so when we moved I had to take all of these down
Ally: Oh boy. That's an
Janice : and so I wrapped them in bubble wrap and I got stickers and I numbered 'em so I wouldn't have to get a spreadsheet and think, When did I do this? Was it, before?
Ally: yeah. I know. That's hard.
Janice : So, but my very first marathon medal was, was Fort Ben. And it literally is like this big.
Ally: That's so funny.
Janice : And when my daughter's helping me hang the medals, at first she's like. You ran 26.2 miles for that dinky little thing. And I'm like, yes. They're like, yes. They're so happy to get it.
Ally: yeah. Right. And I didn't care. Yeah,
Janice : I didn't care. I didn't care. But Yeah,
they've really, medals have really come a long way.
Ally: they have, and they've really become such a thing. Like
Janice : You are?
Ally: I've never signed up for a race because of the medal.
Janice : Mm-hmm.
Ally: And I now have learned that is a big thing. Like people are ready for the medal reveal so they can decide whether or [01:07:00] not it's something they want
Janice : Yes. Yeah. And I'm kinda, yeah. Yeah.
Ally: to me, but you know.
Janice : I know.
several years back when Carmel went away from doing the state as their met,
Ally: yeah,
Janice : there were a lot of people who were disappointed. 'cause they said, I'm trying to get as many states where the medal actually Is the state
Ally: state
Janice : yeah.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : So I mentioned that to Todd and I was like, you know. but I said, I said, It's not a huge thing, but I said, I did have some people that said, oh, we really wish you still had the stay.
Yeah.
Ally: It's hard. It's so hard. 'cause people obviously have all different, opinions about what they like. And I love our, the monumental medals are to me, like an Olympic medal. I mean, they're so
Janice : Nice.
Ally: size is like nice. And I just think they're so like, just perfect.
Janice : They are. And they're really pretty.
Ally: glittery and
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: and they don't spin, you know, but it's, it's just interesting 'cause some people would prefer that.
So you're just like, you know, you can't make everybody
Janice : you can't,
Ally: have to
Janice : Yeah. And that's what I've told everyone. It's like, you know, if I don't like a shirt or I don't like the medal, that's personal, you know, I mean it, that I'm not, I don't ever hold that [01:08:00] against the race. I know some people are really big on the shirts and Yeah.
metals are a big thing for somebody to sign up for.
I do know with some of my running friends And I'm kind of like, I'm kind of more like, where am I gonna get to go? I said, someplace I really wanna go. Or, when we did numerous years ago, my friend who was running and doing her marathons and I was doing my halfs and, and my daughter and son-in-law were doing halves too.
We went out to Bear Lake and did the trifecta out there. And I'd never been to that area of the country, would never have even had it on my radar to, and it is absolutely beautiful.
Ally: is that?
Janice : It is, in the north, northeast corner of Utah. In fact, bear Lake
Ally: Okay.
Janice : this way and it, it straddles Idaho and, or, uh, Utah.
I mean Utah. And then, so it was Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming in three days.
Ally: Wow.
Janice : And that's, uh, which was really fun. And, and the u the Wyoming one was the last day and you had to drive, oh gosh, it was like an hour, hour and a half
Ally: Okay.
Janice : very first town in Wyoming. It was like this little town [01:09:00] of like 400 people.
Ally: Wow,
Janice : And they had the race and they just did it there. But that one was not very scenic. It was an up and back. And you had. Two miles of incline and I'm just like going, ah, and I just thought, okay, on the way back I'll have the descent and I got to like mile 11 and I'm like going, wait a second. I didn't feel the descent.
I thought I could've like fallen and rolled to the finish line, you know, and, and that, but, Bear Lake was really, really, really pretty go to it. Again, it never would've, I would never would've heard it to go to and
Ally: Sure. Yeah. It, I, yeah. Or you know, the places you've been, the people you've
Janice : mm-hmm.
Ally: makes me think about how bad my US geography is. I've been physically to every 50 states, so I've been to all 50 states. I, my last state was North Dakota, and I did that a couple years ago. I went and actually did the half there with my sister, who, it was her birthday weekend, and it was also her 50th state.
Janice : Which one did you do? Where did you do, what did you do in North Dakota?
Ally: the, the Fargo
Janice : Fargo's a good one, and I did, I did Bismarck for my second one.
Ally: [01:10:00] Yeah. Yeah. it was, it was awesome. Actually, it was the year, the last year that their race director directed the race. 'cause he was unfortunately killed in a tragic accident like the month after. Yeah. It was crazy. anyway, so I, I feel like I have some geography, but when you say Bear Lake and you said that Utah and Idaho touch each other.
I'm like, they do. like, I'm like,
Janice : I've gotten, I've gotten much better about geography being stage, you know,
Ally: a physical map that you've put pins in at all? That I feel like would be
Janice : um, haven't done that. I, I have gotten my shirt for, my one for the, the, um, my shirt for the one club. The back is the map that you can fill in.
Ally: right? Yeah. I have a metal hanger that I
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: the
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: Yeah,
Janice : So, so I'll fill that in. And that's kind of fun too, is you're, when you do a race where somebody else's there, it's like, oh, you can kind of get an idea of what part of the country they're from, you know, and they'll be like, you know,
Ally: That's
Janice : if they don't have Indiana or Ohio filled in now, it'll be like, Hey, you know.
Ally: me.
Janice : There, there literally has, I said, one of my friends, in fact we're gonna be doing the race [01:11:00] together in, in Idaho, and she lives, um, in Encino, California, right outside of LA
Ally: Okay.
Janice : back in 2019, , this club had their meetup and that's when I was gonna get my 50 state award and several of my other friends did.
And so it was really, so we went there and it was up around the quad cities, around, the Davenport, Iowa and Rockford, Illinois. There's like four cities that make up the quad cities. The race was up there and it was really a nice race. but she was running and I came up behind her and her back just had like little blotches and I'm like.
I have no idea where this person's from. So I'm, you know, hey, 50 Stater, you know, and
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : go, where are you from? And she didn't have Indiana Field and said, what are you think gonna doing for Indiana? We, and she wasn't on Facebook, so we actually stopped and quickly exchanged numbers
Ally: that's funny. Yeah.
Janice : a mile. And then I was gonna pull away from her.
I was gonna, I said, I'm gonna, I said, if you don't mind, I'm gonna continue on. And that, I had an invitation to stay with her in California. I had invited her to come out for the mini and stayed with us. So I finished race going, yeah, I met this person, you know, and, you know, and since then we literally have done numerous states together [01:12:00] and,
Ally: cool.
Janice : yeah.
Ally: that. Yeah. One of my running friends I met during the Carmel Half Marathon, she was friends with another one of my running friends and she's like, Hey, this is my friend Kim. And so we ended up running like the whole race together, which was, I mean, 'cause I'm a very, know, I've done a, most of my racing I've done by myself.
Like I, I like running with people. It's not that I don't, but I just tend to just not want anybody to rely on me for anything. I don't wanna rely on anyone else for anything. but yeah, so we ended up doing like that whole race together and we've since done some girl trips with that group. but then having babies kind of messed us all up 'cause we're all at different stages of having kids now.
And so trying to get 'em to reunite, we'll see.
Janice : Yeah. it'll happen. You're keeping in touch and it, it's so much easier now with Facebook and everything, you know,
Ally: goodness for that,
Janice : and then, but, but yeah, and like I said, I'd met, you know, Judy in 2019 and then she was gonna come out for the 2020 mini, Well, it went down, 21 went down, so she finally came out in 22. But through COVID, she and I would maybe every [01:13:00] month to six weeks would just like text each other and we would text each other just for hours, you know, how you doing?
And mentally, are you doing Okay.
What racing? We just, we just really kept in touch that way and it was nice to have that connection with people and the world wasn't coming at that time.
Ally: Yeah, for sure. Um, you've mentioned a couple of your challenges that you've done, and there were a couple that you mentioned to me that we have not talked about yet. And so one is the Disney Coast to coast, so we, I wanna talk about that. And then you also did seven half marathons in seven days in seven states.
Okay. So talk about, I don't know which one you wanna talk about first, but I'd love to hear about
Janice : Okay.
Yeah. Well, we could do the coast to coast and, and for anyone listening who's not familiar with that, they've just been able to restart that since, Disneyland is now having races again. They, for quite a few years, for various reasons. They, they, they in the city could not work out being able to host races for a window of time.
but what it is, is if you do, a half or a full, both in Disney World [01:14:00] and then the half in one of the halfs in Disneyland within the same year. You get an additional medal, which at that point when I did it, I don't know if it's the same, it's, but it's the statue of Walt Disney holding Mickey's hand with the Cinderella's castle behind you got coast to coast medal.
So, I decided that when I did, the Goofy challenge, which is the half in the full at Disney World in January, I wanted to do the half marathon in September in Disneyland. And it was kind of funny because uh, at that point Disney was opening up the registration for anybody doing the race for one day at the expo and you could sign up.
So I told, I told my husband and the kids go to the park, I'll, I'll catch a shuttle and come out and see you, but I'm gonna sign up for the race. So I'm standing in line and talking with this gentleman in front of me and he's like, you, he said, what, what are you gonna sign up for? I said, well, yeah. I'm gonna sign up for the half 'cause I wanna do my, get my coast to coast.
And he goes, oh, okay. He said, well, are you gonna do the Dumbo Dare. [01:15:00] No, and if you, you know anything about Disney races, they're not cheap. and
Ally: Well,
Janice : I said, no, the mouse has gotten enough money outta me. And, and he goes, but it's the, it's an inaugural year. Oh, Well,
then tell me about it.
Ally: yeah.
Janice : So it was the 10 K on Saturday and then the half on Sunday.
And then he goes, oh, but there's also a 5K right before the 10 K. And if you do that, you're gonna be an unofficial mad hatter. I'll be darned if I didn't get outta that race line having signed up for all three races.
Ally: Oh boy.
Janice : So that's kind of the one thing, you know, you say people, medals and shirts. Probably the one thing That I'm a sucker for, I'll be like, if there's a half and if there's a 5K the day before and if you get a challenge medal for it, I'm like, I get an extra bling, you know?
Ally: Yeah. Yeah. I love a medal. Yeah. The Indie hon medals that we have for beyond monumental races is fun.
Janice : yeah. So, uh, I'm kind of a sucker for that kinda thing. Plus It's like, it's kinda nice to get a 5K before the half get kind of a shake
Ally: nice shakeout
Janice : shakeout.
Ally: sure. Yeah.
Janice : and that, so that was fun. And then we went out to, you know, and, and did it in, in that, [01:16:00] that fall. and it was so funny because I had results that I could have been bumped up.
And so we went to the expo and said, here's my results. Well, you bumped it up. And I was, I think I was gonna get bumped up to like the B corral or something. And, and he was like, oh, well you could just put her in a, or whatever. And the person wasn't sticking thinking and grabbed an a sticker and put it right? on it on my bib.
And she's like, Oh And I'm like, I'm sorry, I'll try to get it off. She goes, no, don't worry about it. So, you did the 5K pretty much because start and finish we're not together, so you had to kind of walk around and it was around this huge park. And so I finished the 5K. Patrick was there. I swapped my bibs out, went around to walk, and I got to the back of like the B corral when the national anthem was starting.
And I'm like, also, I'm one of these things, it doesn't matter where you start, it's
Ally: right?
Janice : you cross the, that's the start line wherever I'm at. And one of the Disney people like saw me and they're just like all of a sudden like, come, come here. And then he's like, we got another a person we gotta bring up. And so he like worked me up and literally I started right at the start.
And then of course all the elite runners went,
Ally: Yeah. And you're like, [01:17:00] okay, see ya.
Janice : turtle spinning, you know, and that, but it was kind of cool to actually be at the very front of the ver of the race when it started.
Ally: yeah. Yeah. I, did Ainsley's Angels for the Indie Mini this year for the second time, and they start the race and that, you know, last year when I did it for the first time was my first time getting a chance to start at the front, and it is so cool.
Janice : Yeah. And, and, and, and when I finished it, and that was like I said, back in 2013 where I just probably started my quest for my 50 states.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Janice : When I was first starting to really think seriously, I think I started like in 11 kind of thinking and whacked off a few and got the crazy, I mean, I'd only did, I mean, I would only maybe do one or two halfs a year from TW 2005 through 2012.
And then I got the crazy, silly, stupid idea that I wanted to do 13 thirteens in 13.
Ally: Okay.
Janice : And I did,
Ally: Oh my gosh.
Janice : and that, but when I finished, when I, and that was when I really started, you know, knocking some states off and said, okay, I've got, you know, 10 or 15 or whatever. By the end of that, something, when I finished coast to [01:18:00] coast, I literally got tears in my eyes because I thought, this is what I, some in small, some insignificant meaning what like the Olympic athletes feel and what any, you know, elite athlete who, 'cause that just really meant so much to me at that time.
And that was probably the, my little unathletic body had accomplished. And I literally crossing the finish line and had tears of my eyes. It was very cool. It was very cool.
Ally: Ugh. Yeah, that is, yeah, it is amazing.
So cool what you can do.
Janice : so
Ally: the seven states in seven, what was it?
Janice : Seven, days.
Ally: seven days, seven states.
Janice : it's a,
Ally: was that?
Janice : that was in New England, which was an amazing way to see New England. it's hard to get there, but once you're there, it's not easy, not hard to get around. but it's a race organization called Mainly Marathons, and That's their thing. They socialize in multi-day, multi-state, multi distance racism.
And they have race series all over the country, and they're all five to seven days. And you can run one of 'em, two of them, all of them, whatever you wanna do. And
Ally: fun.
Janice : they [01:19:00] have, I think a five, they have five, 10, half full. And I don't know if they, if they used to have maybe like a little distance over maybe, I think they used to do maybe 50 Ks.
I don't know if they,
Ally: Okay.
Janice : they're, they're, they're not, they don't, they're not gonna be Boston qualifiers by any means. They're all either out and back or loops.
Ally: Okay.
Janice : I first was looking into 'em like I. Oh you know, eh,
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : up and back, you know, seven or eight times or looping times, I'm like, kill me, kill me now. I don't wanna do that.
It is the most fun. 'cause most of the races don't have more than 150 or 200 people in 'em, and you get to know everybody and the only water station is at the start, finish. But they will actually have, at one point, when I, when I first started, they actually had a guy that cooked for the races. And you would have little, like, mini pancakes or,
Ally: Oh, that's awesome.
Janice : and you'll have anything and everything you ever wanted to eat at a finish line.
I mean, peanut butter and jelly, uh, you know, pretzels, pickles, every candy you eat [01:20:00] and you, you know, you bring your own glass and it'll be like. You'll leave it there and every time you come around, what do you want next time? Coffee, water, coke, juice, Gatorade, what do you want? And they'll have it feel for you when you come around.
And it's a, but I decided to do this and, and talk to my wonderful Sherpa husband. It was around our, around our 30th wedding anniversary. I said, I don't wanna do like Europe or Hawaii or anything. I want you to take me to New England and drive me around for seven days so I can run these races. And he did.
And, and it was just wonderful. And New England is just so, so beautiful. And, and the races are usually like in, in, in a state park or in parks or something. So they're very, very scenic and pretty.
Ally: Yeah. Wow. that's so crazy. Seven days.
Janice : And then
Ally: celebrate your anniversary too.
Janice : it was, it was really a lot of fun. And, and the thing is, they, they're, they start at, like, they usually try to start at like six 30 in the morning. And they don't, they say there's no real time limit until they have to tear down the start, finish stuff and their stuff and mo go to the next. Race. site.
'cause they're [01:21:00] usually within an hour to three hours apart. Um, so there are people there that are, older and, you know, maybe taking, there's one guy that I know that he'll by the end of the, if he does the whole series, he'll be taking six, seven hours to do a half marathon. He walks up and he, he'll do 'em.
And he's just amazing. It's like, I can't even imagine the tenacity to do that, but as, And they say, so that's where these races, there's no, the only time limit is when do they need to leave to go to the next thing. So you can have, you know, a, a good amount of time to, to do it. So, and
Ally: a medal for each race or do you get a medal for the series?
Janice : they will start with the, the hub of metal that's the series medal.
And then every day you do, it'll be the state will link on.
Ally: Oh, that's cool.
Janice : So the reason that,
Ally: a,
Janice : so that's really,
a neat idea, ed, and, and, so I've got my, I think I would find it easily, I should have pulled these out earlier.
Ally: got hundreds of them. I don't know. feel I can barely find them and I don't have
Janice : My New England medal literally is like this. I jokingly said it was my Jacob Marley [01:22:00] medal, like from, you know, Christmas Carol. And I said, if I didn't more states, it would be dragging, you know, you know, but it was really cool. And, and that was really, like I said, and there was probably 50, 60 of us that were doing all seven days.
And so we were staying at the same hotels, the same, you know, bed and breakfasts. And so we, we always joke, we were like, you know, carnival workers, you know, we broke the fair and went to the next fair.
Ally: Yeah,
Janice : I, I came away from that week having so ma so many new friends that I, I totally still keep in touch with.
Ally: yeah, Oh my gosh.
Janice : It's really, really nice. So that.
Ally: summer camp
Janice : It was, it was really, it was really awesome to do it. It was really fun. It was just such a great experience and that and, and it's, it is a really, it is a really nice series and when I did the Hawaii ones, they, since it was all Hawaii, it was on Kauai and you did two days at a luo ground and two days along the coast.
So I signed up and Patrick was gonna do the 5K one of the days or the two of the days. I said, if you'll walk the five Ks two days, I'll do the halfs the other two days. So I would do a half in each location and a 5K in each location. Well, at that [01:23:00] time, the race director gave you just like a little kind of medal for the 5K.
You didn't get the one that linked on, you had to do a half or the half or the full. And the last day was a volcano. And I really wanted that. volcano.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : So after running, this was my fourth half in 11 days and a 5K, I said, okay, well I will start early, which was a four 30 start for the marathon. And so I had a guy come and pick me up at our hotel that was doing it.
And we, I started at four 30, did the half marathon, and then I walked the 5K with Patrick
Ally: Wow. And you got that volcano.
Janice : I got that volcano because I wanted that volcano.
Ally: That's, man. We're crazy, aren't we runners?
Janice : We, we are a crazy breed. I
Ally: We are. Oh my gosh.
Janice : they said, that's the the highest compliment you could tell. Call raise runners. Tell 'em they're crazy.
Ally: Yeah. 'cause you're like, yes, that's that. I do identify with that.
Janice : Yep.
Ally: we have to do the end of the podcast
Janice : [01:24:00] Yes.
Ally: which I'm sad about because I could talk to you all day
Janice : Oh, well, thank.
Ally: so excited. I, I'm so excited that you're a streaker for Carmel because I know that I'll see you next
Janice : Yes, you will. I've already signed up. I'm ready to go.
Ally: Yeah. so end of the podcast questions.
There's just two. And the first is, what is your favorite running song and or mantra?
Janice : Yeah, I thought about that a lot. Song. I am very whole wide spectrum of music. I mean, I will listen to Broadway musicals. I'll have a list to John Denver, Simon
Ally: love me some. John Denver.
Janice : all the way to Headbanging Rock.
Ally: Okay.
Janice : So I really
Ally: Just all across the board.
Janice : all across the board. I said I really can't pick, I guess kinda is my mood. What am I in the mood for?
You know what? While, so I really don't have a type of music or a song that I get into, mantra. Um, I dunno if it's so much of a mantra that I will, like, say while I'm running, but I've done the Pittsburgh Marathon [01:25:00] twice the half there, and I love the running slogan.
It's Runners of Steel
Ally: Oh,
Janice : to me. I just,
Ally: that
Janice : every time I put my shirt on, I just am like I feel, I just feel stronger, you know? And I just, I just love that that that slogan and I, so maybe that indirectly is a mantra for me.
Ally: cool. Yeah. You're like, I'm a runner of steel.
Janice : You know, I just feel tough.
Ally: Yeah. Yeah. Um, and then we already know your next finish line's in Idaho,
Janice : Yep.
Ally: uh, and then the next milestone will be completing that 50 states
Janice : Yes. Yes.
Ally: you celebrate your 100? I think. your a hundredth at Carmel in 2017.
Janice : Right.
Ally: celebrate your 200th
Janice : Um, and monumental.
Ally: Oh, that's right. We talked about this and I was like,
Janice : Yeah,
Ally: anything? And you were like, no, ah, man.
Janice : it was, it was great. It was fun and like I said, and that, I mean the Mini Carmel and monumental are really, I think, you know, at Fort Bend is wonderful. I love doing Fort Bend, but really premier [01:26:00] races, those I think are probably indies, you know, shining star races and just really thought, you know, I know when I was, I remember I was running rock and roll DC and I was, that was my 80th and I started thinking, shoot, I'm really starting, to do races now.
I gotta think of what my, my hundredth.
Ally: I'm really starting,
Janice : Literally on the race thinking that going, dang, I gotta start thinking about this. And so that's.
when I picked caramel and that, that, like spring, so many races were falling with storms. And I remember I was at a back of my feet monthly, meeting that we had.
And I'm literally sitting there going, okay, if it's storms and this race gets canceled, okay, I can do this one. Or I, I had like backup plans,
Ally: That's smart.
Janice : you know, to, to see it to my hundredth. So that was my, then I, I said, then I thought, well, well, for 200 I wanted monumental to be my 200th. And then, 'cause I knew I wanted to do, 'cause since mini was my first, so that way they all, they all had had a special, you know, milestone for me in my heart with Julie.
Ally: Yeah. I should know off the top of my head 'cause I just updated [01:27:00] my spreadsheet. I think with my mini, I think I'm at 64 or
Janice : Awesome.
Ally: marathons.
Janice : That's,
Ally: you know, I'm chipping, chipping away, you know, before kids. I would do like all of them in a row in the
Janice : yeah.
Ally: and I still kind of, I'll like do maybe a couple now instead of all of 'em.
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: of course now Geist is in the fall, which I love that race too, but
Janice : yeah, Geist is really nice and I love Fort Bend. I mean, it's, a tough phrase, but I love Fort and that, I mean, in, in a way, realistically, that was my first marathon. I did it when it was a marathon.
Ally: Yeah.
Janice : So that kind of has the distinction of really being my first marathon too. So,
Ally: really cool.
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: Ugh. Alright. Well have so much fun in Idaho.
Janice : you. Thank you. And I hope to see you definitely, you know, if not at Carmel before then at something
Ally: Are you, will you come in town for monumental this year?
Janice : I haven't decided yet. I, I, I pro I haven't, this is probably the first year I haven't signed up, like Right on New Year's Day. Um, so I'm just gonna kind of see how I know, I know I probably will. 'cause I love that race. It's such an awesome,
Ally: It's gonna be so fun. I don't [01:28:00] know what I'm doing yet either. I'm not doing the full, 'cause I'm doing the Marine Corps full this year.
Janice : awesome.
Ally: and so I might do the half or I might decide not to run and just like what I was planning to do at Carmel and
Janice : Yeah.
Ally: and volunteer.
'cause I'm on our, I'm on the board for Beyond monumental.
Janice : Yes, yes.
Ally: you know, I like to represent as a participant, but I also know that we always need help. So
Janice : Sure, sure.
Ally: could take a break and actually
Janice : No,
Ally: I don't
Janice : but. I, I love the race. It's such a beautiful way to see our city. Yeah,
Ally: It really is. So well enjoy the rest of your day and have a nice holiday weekend.
Safe
Janice : you do the same. Thank you.
Ally: gonna Facebook friend you now so we
Janice : Absolutely. Thank you. I
Ally: keep up. I gotta keep up with all your stuff.
Janice : I, I would love to have you Facebook friendly. I look forward to that. Thank you so much.
Ally: And thank you to everybody who has listened and happy running.
If you enjoyed this episode of Finish Lines and Milestones from Sandy Boy Productions, please share rate review. I finally took a peek at my Apple ratings, my Apple Podcast ratings, and it's a 4.6 out of [01:29:00] five, which really hurts people. There's, there's some one star reviews, but it doesn't show. Anything else, it's just, that's all it is.
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