Jessie is a wife, mother, teacher and is addicted to running. However, running wasn’t always her favorite thing to do. In high school when the P.E. teacher would have her run laps to warm up, she dreaded it. In softball, when the coach said to run laps around the field, she dreaded it. It wasn’t until after she had her son that she started running. The baby weight wasn’t coming off with other forms of cardio and exercise that she was doing, so one evening she decided to give running a try in hopes that it would speed up weight loss. It more of a walk/jog actually, but she came home feeling something that she never felt from previous experiences: energized. She went out again the next evening, and the next, and the next, and very quickly, running was a habit for her. She soon forgot why she started in the first place, because she was feeling so good just having running as part of her life. The reason didn’t matter anymore- what mattered was that she was out there running. A few years after her son was born, she went back to college as a non-traditional student. She worked part-time at the tutor center with some classmates. They were talking about running much of the time and told her that they ran cross country. They said they told the coach about her and that the coach wanted to invite her to join the team. She thought, “Join the college cross country team?  I’m SLOW!” As it turned out, they didn’t care how slow she was or that she was 28 years old, all they cared about was having her with them. She joined and competed against college student ten years her junior. She didn’t always come in last, but even when she did, she didn’t care. She lettered, earned an Academic All-American Award, and was voted by her teammates as the Most Improved Player. Since then, Jessie has completed four half marathons and one full marathon. She has also started bike riding at least once a day. She is a full time teacher, wife, and mother and some days she has to get up before 4am to get her running and exercise done for the day, but it’s a priority for her, so she makes time. Her reasons for being addicted to running have changed from that 24 year old who wanted to shed the stubborn post-baby weight. She runs because it makes her feel good, and as a way to shed baggage, negativity and stress that accumulates in her life. It brings her back to her priorities in life. It’s not about anything fancy...it’s just about the road under her feet, the smell of fresh air and the feeling that nothing is holding her back. When she's running all negative rolls off her back, and her mood and heart lighten. She doesn’t care about being the fastest runner in the race. She doesn’t care about being the skinniest runner in the race. What she cares about is that she’s out there.