Jackie Green - Gazelle Sports Activator

I can remember everything about my first half marathon and it was 14 years ago! I was a senior in high school.  I grew up in Portage and the big race each spring was the Kalamazoo Half Marathon (Borgess Run).

I was so afraid of not being able to finish my teammate and I decided to run as slow as possible the first half and picked it up the second half. I remember Hills on top of hills and thinking “I’ve lived here my whole life how have I not noticed how hilly this town is!?”

But even through the hills we managed to finish in about 1:50!

Fast forward years later, Kalamazoo added a full marathon to their annual weekend race. I decided in 2014 that would be MY race and I remembered from high school how hilly it was.

I made sure through my training to incorporate hills as much as I could.

This time around I took the time to appreciate my home town, and all the changes that have happened over the course of the 10 years since I had ran the half. I proudly finished 5th women overall in the marathon.

Kalamazoo Marathon weekend is one I will always look forward to!