Keep Moving

By Megan Exline

Story by, Megan Exline

Photos by, Ross Brinkerhoff

Janalee Stock has always enjoyed exercise, from growing up as a competitive gymnast to finding herself exercising unintentionally while chasing her three kids around the yard. Stock started running 30 years ago by making the two-mile trip from her house to her mailbox and back. She’s built up her mileage since then.

“I’ve ran everything from one mile to a 50K,” said Stock. “I’ve done lots of 5Ks, some 10ks, half marathons… I like variety; I think it’s really fun. I’ve been doing this for 30 years, so if there’s something that’s different, it will attract my attention.”

Stock is the Athens City Schools’ nurse and travels among five elementary schools, the middle school and the high school. Although it is difficult to find time to train, she still runs about 30 miles a week and normally runs after work.

Stock is now training for the Bobcat Trail Marathon on November 6. The 26.2-mile race takes place in Burr Oak State Park in Glouster, Ohio,

While she already has her base-mileage down, Stock continues to build her mileage on the weekends, when she runs about 15 miles. She was training for a triathlon over the summer, so some of her summer training crosses over. Cross training by doing things like biking or swimming can help in running and helps prevent injuries. She currently swims about three days a week and used to bike the same amount but says she will not bike as much while training for the marathon.

Stock says it is difficult to find a balance between pushing herself to do her best and overtraining. According to her, she can only find that balance by being uncomfortable once in a while and running something different, like intervals, a program involving running hard for a certain distance and then jogging or walking that same distance. She said paying attention to her body and figuring out when she is overtraining helps her stay injury-free.

She hasn’t always been that way, though. When she was 50, Stock had to get an ACL reconstruction because of arthritis under one of her kneecaps. The doctor told her to stop running, but she eventually discovered that she could run without too much difficulty. The surgeon who operated on her knee told her to run on soft ground and to stop if she felt any pain.

“You have to focus on the ground 99 percent of the time because it’s very easy to sprain your ankle… it behooves you to pay attention,” said Stock, who has sprained her ankle about six times. Since these injuries are so common, she often runs with a partner.

Stock has trained for the Bobcat Trail Marathon before. This will be the race’s third year and Stock’s third year participating. Her time last year was 5:09:02. (Unfortunately, last year’s race was only 24 and a half miles because of course vandalism, but the first year was considered a full marathon.)  She beat her previous time by 27 minutes and 26 seconds. Stock feels she could have beaten it by more, but she got lost on the course.

“That sucked,” she said.

Stock runs the trails in Athens every opportunity she gets, adding that the Athens area has beautiful trails. At Strouds Run, there is a giant oak tree that she calls “great great great great grandpa” because of how big and old it looks.

Despite living nearby, she had never run trails at Burr Oak before the marathon, and she said it was good to see that it has wonderful trails. When describing her experience during the race, Stock detailed the beauty of Burr Oak’s lake, part of which is covered entirely by lily pads, and the incredible steepness of the trails. The scenery and trails are beautiful, but most of the racers don’t know when they will run them again.

While the scenery and trails are beautiful, many racers identify the marathon with the over-sized, light-gray cobblestone lodge that houses many of them the weekend before the race and also holds an expo for shoes, clothing and other running gear.

However, Vince Recci and Brandon Huff, owners of One World Trail Running and  race directors for the Bobcat Trail Marathon, say the Lodge is going to close in January for an indefinite period of time because Xanterra, the company that runs it, is choosing to not renew its contract, which means that this will be the last year for the Bobcat Trail Marathon until the lodge reopens.

Stock got the e-mail and heard on the news that the lodge is scheduled to close. She said it is unfortunate because this is the third consecutive year the marathon is going to take place, and they have to pause for reasons they cannot control. Stock described the marathon as “a great little race” and said that it offered her an opportunity to meet a community of people who like to run very long distances.

While she is upset about the lodge’s imminent closing, Stock is ready to run this year. She will try to have fun, finish at a time close to what she ran last year, and avoid spraining her ankle. She also hopes the weather will cooperate.

“I love nature,” she says, “I’m happiest when I’m moving.”