While some athletic careers start to decline when approaching the age of 32, for Jane Hutchison it marked the beginning of a life devoted to competitive running.
Her introduction to running began innocently enough with a modest goal of completing “just a mile a day”. She accomplished this by running 11 laps around an indoor track at the Olympic Fitness Center. The timing was right, as the Center had recently opened. She later stated, “The first time I stepped on that track, I ran a whole mile, and I was so excited. I then decided to run a mile a day and go for the 100-mile club they had at the Center.”
One mile led to two miles, which increased to six miles. After only four months of running she entered a local race. Jane ran her first 10 kilometer race in 1979 at Duffy’s Underground in Carthage and won the women’s division in 42:01. With this win, it was apparent she had a special talent as well as an urge to compete. She also had her husband, Mike, encouraging and coaching her to enter more races.
Jane would enter many races, and during the next 25 years she ran in 41 marathons. As an elite runner, Jane would set records in many of the twenty-five states she competed in. Her Masters rankings in Running Times and Runners World magazines rose to 2nd female master in the United States and 3rd in the world. Jane has been featured in both publications.
Jane was voted the “Kansas City Pacesetter’s Award” at the 1995 Hospital Hill Half Marathon, which is one of the premier half marathons in the country. She holds 14 individual age group records in this annual race.
At the age of 43 Jane qualified for the 1988 Olympic Trial Marathon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by running a 2:49:08 marathon at the Twin Cities Marathon. She was one of only 200 United States female athletes to run in the Olympic Trials.
From her modest initial goal of one mile a day, Jane has expanded her workout into as much as 100 miles per week, including a 24-mile long run, a 12-mile tempo run at a 6:30 per mile pace, and track sessions of 16 quarter miles at a target time of 75 to 78 seconds for each quarter. This training schedule pushed Jane’s personal best to a 34:40 10K and a 2:45:35 marathon at ages 43 and 44 respectfully.
Running long distances daily can be very lonely and tedious. However, that is not the case for Jane because through the years she has had her steadfast companion Mike near her side, either running or peddling a bicycle through and around the back roads of Jasper, Newton and McDonald counties. In fact, this running ethic pervaded the Hutchison’s home as both daughters, Kelsie and Keri, learned to love to run as well as compete just like their mother and now continuing down their five grandchildren.
When asked what running meant to Jane, she stated, “Discovering the benefits of running came to me after the first mile I completed. I realized the effects of running are temporary and that one must remain constantly in training.” So, as in the words of author and runner George Sheehan, “I run each day to preserve the self I attained the day before. If I do not run I will eventually lose all I have gained.”
