JanaKae Wall on her way to the Boston Marathon

JanaKae Wall is on her way. On her way to the Boston Marathon that is.“It’s been a dream of mine for the last 10 years. I competed in the St. George Marathon about 10 year’s ago. I wanted to run at least one marathon and cross it off my bucket list. But, it’s kind of addicting. I ran the St. George race with my sister. She’s always been there with me, pushing me along.
“Last year I ran the Denver marathon and I was able to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon is one of the only races where you have to have a qualifying time. Most of the larger marathons are done on a lottery system.
“I had to run the race in three hours and 40 minutes or less for my age group. Then you have to apply to run the Boston Marathon. The race will be held on April 16. I made the cut with my qualifying time of 3 hours and 36 minutes. The race is 26.2 miles and is run on the streets of Boston. They shut down the streets for the race.
“I’ve been training for the last 10 years. I’ve done several half marathons too. For the 26.2 miles it’s about eight minutes per mile for me. I’ve also added strength and weight training to my workout and I think that’s reduced my time as well. I’ve been training two days a week with a personal trainer. I run four times a week. I work out at the gym and at home. I have also run the New York marathon. I have kind of backed off on the weight training now. I did enter a power lifting contest and took first for my weight bracket.
“I’ve been on a diet of a lot of carbs. When I do my long runs I burn about 2,000 calories. So I eat a lot of protein and carbs and drink a lot of water. I’ll take some fruit with me for the marathon. There are eight stations along the way where they will give us water.
“It’s really great living here because on my longer runs, I just head to the desert. I run 14-18 miles every Saturday. I run shorter distances during the week. My last really long run will be 20 miles and that’s the last one I’ll do before the race. I’ve trained for 20 miles, but then I think that last 6.2 miles how am I going to run another 6 miles. But, I think the crowd and the excitement of being in the Boston Marathon will carry me that last 6.2 miles.
“The race is April 16 and it will be the 122nd Boston Marathon. My boyfriend and I will leave on April 13 and we will do some sightseeing before the race. We’ll be there for five days.
“I am really excited this has been 10 years in the making. I just want to see Boston and feel that support from the crowd. In most marathons the people are only there along the route for a short time. In Boston there are crowds lining the entire course. They close down the streets and everything.  The streets will be closed for 6 hours and 35 minutes. If you don’t finish in that time you’re on your own.
“I’m not trying for a super fast time, I just want to make it through and finish with a decent time. There’s been a couple of other Emery County residents who have done the Boston Marathon, Christy Guymon and Hugh Christiansen. I would like to contact them to see if they could give some pointers on what to expect.
“I really love to run. In high school I ran track and did cross country. After high school I did 5k races and then 10k and then a half marathon. I’ve been wanting to run the Boston Marathon ever since 2008 when I did my first marathon. After Boston, it might be my last marathon, but I may want to do Chicago. It takes a lot of training. At least 15 miles during the week and then longer runs on the weekend. It can be pretty grueling as it gets closer to the race. I will still train for half marathons, it’s not as time consuming.
“My boyfriend will accompany me to Boston. My sister qualified, but she didn’t beat her qualifying time but she will go to Boston next year. Her name is Sarah Oliver. My whole family does some running, Matt ran the Salt Lake Marathon with me, Sharamie runs 5ks and Sarah is right there with me at the marathons. Only my brother James doesn’t run at all.
“After one marathon, I was hooked, it’s addicting. I try to pick the marathons that are in September and October because I teach school, then I can train during summer break. Trying to fit in training in the spring with school is hard. I’ve been practicing the hills, because there is one hill in the Boston Marathon called Heartbreak hill. I’m trying to prepare for that, it’s near the end of the course.
“I am a special education teacher at Cottonwood Elementary for Kindergarten through second grade. This is the first year the unit has been at Cottonwood Elementary. Before that we were in Huntington. This is my 12th year teaching.
I went to school at Dixie for two years and then got married and came back and finished by degree with the Utah State Extension program. Three years ago I got my masters and administrative endorsement. I love teaching, but maybe down the road I will look at a principal position.
“Emery County is my home and I can’t stand the traffic and people up north.
“I think everybody should do a marathon. I think Moab is my favorite marathon. It’s so beautiful. I think running a marathon is 90 percent mental preparation. You need to tell yourself you can do it. I think there will be about 30,000 runners at Boston. There are different age brackets I will be in the lady’s bracket age 35-39,” said Wall.
The Boston Marathon will be broadcast live and you can look up the person you are interested in and the computer will show exactly where they are along the course.
The bib number to watch for JanaKae Wall will be 19379.