Jill started out small, with her first run being from the house to the end of her driveway. Her next attempt took her to the corner. Each time out she added a little more and one day she made it up to a mile. It was then that she told her great friend and companion Wayne Weiss the news. He was astounded! He was a regular runner and tried for years to get Jill to run, as he knew she could do it and was certain she would like it once she gave it a chance. Despite his encouragement and that of her former employer Dr. Kaufman and coworker Mary Ann Rustz, she still needed a motivating factor. And after all those years she finally found a reason to give it a try; she wanted to lose weight. She stuck with the running, increasing her mileage along the way, and the weight came off.

She has been running for 11 years now and recalls her first race being a 1500 meter event, run in conjunction with the Mountain Goat. Since then, she has been in many races. She prefers racing in 5K’s and one of her favorites is the Sun Fun Weekend 5K held in Myrtle Beach the first Saturday in June. She and Wayne enjoy it so much that they schedule their vacation each year to attend it. The festivities include many other activities such as an air show, arts and crafts, lifeguard swimming competition and more. Along with her many road races, Jill also competed in the Empire State Senior Games, earning a spot in the National Senior Games which were held in Florida in 1999. It was an incredible experience. She participated in the parade of athletes which was a real thrill for her. Jill competed in the 5K run and spent time afterwards meeting her peers and giving some of her ‘state’ pins to athletes from other countries.

Over the years Jill has earned her share of awards. One award was a year in the making. She participated in the Oswego County Runs for Fun series and was the 2001 recipient of the prize for the person completing the most races in the series. Jill ran in 17 races in Oswego County. In her quest to finish them all, she found herself in the position of running in two races one October morning. No sooner had she completed a 5K in Oswego than she was off to Sandy Creek to run another one. Wayne jokingly dubbed her ‘certifiably nuts’ on that day.

Jill’s mileage is currently about 20-30 miles a week. She has a favorite six mile route that incorporates hills and takes her through the village of Baldwinsville. Although this is her regular course, she recognizes that Central New York runners are fortunate to have many wonderful places to run, such as Green Lakes, Beaver Lake and Onondaga Lake Park. She feels the running community in CNY benefits not only from the scenic places where runners can work out, but also from the organizations that support and promote running, such as the Syracuse Chargers. She is proud to be part of a top notch racing community made up of the enthusiastic runners, volunteers and spectators. “People in this area that are involved in running are so nice and helpful to each other,” says Jill. “Everyone is welcome.”

A resident of Baldwinsville, Jill has lived in the Syracuse area all her life. She works as an L.P.N. at the Ear, Nose and Throat Associates of Syracuse in the Allergy Department. Besides running, she and Wayne enjoy attending the Oswego Speedway with their good friends Mary and Mike O’Brien, who they met through running. One of her greatest pleasures in life is time spent with her family. One of eight children herself, she treasures her family life. She has three grown children, Cherie, Fred and Irene. She is also a grandmother of three, Mitchell, Nicholas and three-year-old Jacob, who she dotes upon. She recently enjoyed a family-oriented race day. Besides competing in the Swamp Rat races herself, she also cheered her grandson Nicholas on in his first race, the Swamp Rat mile fun run. From there it was off to Green Lakes to see her daughter Irene compete in her first triathlon. Combining her two loves, family and running, made for a very special and memorable day.

August, 2002