Jenny Phillips

A girl on fire – that is our female Runner of the Month!  She has undergone a running transformation that even she didn’t think possible. Case in point, Jenny Phillips answered a recent Truthful Tuesday question, “You are so NRC if…?” with “…you find yourself running a marathon when less than 3 years ago you SWORE you hated running!”

Well, she did run a marathon (and she crushed it, by the way), but that’s no surprise. Her consistency has been evident since she started running, but if her experiences from high school cross-country had prevailed, she may have never laced up her shoes.

Jenny was born and raised in Columbia, TN a.k.a Mule Town! She still has ties to the community which sits on the bank of the Duck River and, thank goodness! Her connection there was the catalyst for the annual NRC Canoe Trip that is a fave summer event!

A rarity in a city of transplants, she’s lived along I-65 in Middle TN her entire life. Jenny went to Lipscomb University in Nashville and has stayed here for 20 years, eventually settling in Nolensville.

Her running was confined mostly to basketball and tennis courts in high school. Then, her basketball coach made her run cross-country. They didn’t give much instruction; just basically told her, “Go run 3 miles.” She hated it, but can you really blame her? After that experience, she had a running aversion.

Fortunately, she’s neighbors with NRCer Elizabeth Schaub who encouraged Jenny and another friend, Stephanie Oberheide, to sign up for the 2015 NRC C25K. Both kept saying no and giving excuses, but they finally gave in, signing up on the very last day before the deadline!

Jenny and Stephanie started making friends within their 4:1 C25K group and learned a lot through the experience. After the program wrapped up, they were content to run their 3-4 miles, until getting a spark of motivation when their C25K friends moved up to 6-8 mile Saturday runs. They’ve been regulars representing the 4:1 interval crew ever since!

“It’s the camaraderie, the friendships, and the involvement in the community that keeps me coming back,” Jenny says.

Jenny and Stephanie are one of NRC’s famous “running couples”. Together, they’ve trained for and run five half marathons over the last 2 years!

“I would never have even signed up for the C25K if I didn’t have a great friend taking that first step with me,” says Jenny. “And even though she didn’t run Little Rock [marathon] with me, she was there to cheer me across the finish line! (Well, I guess she was there for her hubby, Jason, too. J)”

Jenny (who gets my vote for NRC’s Anne Hathaway lookalike) tends to wear her favorite red NRC shirt at races, and she’s worn it a lot lately! Her first half marathon was Tom King 2016, but her favorite race was the Oak Barrel 2017 where she PR’d in spite of a healthy fear of Whiskey Hill. She highly recommends it!

“It was a great time running and with the tour of the Jack Daniels Distillery afterwards,” Jenny explains, “you get to know other NRCers outside of your regular running group.”

Ready to take on her first 26.2 in March of 2018, she traveled to Little Rock, AR, where the medals are bigger than the bibs! Jenny’s goals for the race were simply: a) to finish, b) to beat 5 hours, and 3) to average an 11-minute mile. In spite of the 3-mile long hill at mile 14, and all out monsoon at mile 24, she came in at 4 hours 39 minutes, and averaged a 10:40/mile!!!

She credits many people, including NRC, for the inspiration to push herself and accomplish goals she never even considered.

“Running checks two boxes for me: an exercise and a social activity,” admits Jenny. “The accomplishments would mean so much less if I didn’t have someone (even several someone’s) to share them with… And a race is always a great excuse for a weekend party trip!”

Keeping up with her 3 kiddos is a marathon in itself, but she gets nothing but love from her family when it comes to running.

Her husband, Bryan, is very supportive and proud of her. Although sometimes, Jenny says, he does think we’re all a little bit crazy! Crazy or not, it was Bryan who pushed her over the line to finally commit to running the Little Rock marathon! (WTG, Bryan!)

Jenny’s son, James, is a great runner and an NRC NexGen, for sure. You may see him on a Wednesday night especially if there’s a promise of Campo after. Her oldest daughter, Carson, has zero interest in sweating opting for other hobbies. Megan, her youngest, has taken to running and is really looking forward to the Nolensville Kids Marathon where many NRC volunteers will have the chance to cheer her on.

With her first marathon in the rear view, she’s really looking forward to Downhill at Dawn in May. She’d also like to try a Ragnar Relay and a hit the trails for a race or two, but no 2^nd marathon has been booked…yet.

Since becoming a steady runner, Jenny has had some minor strains and pains, so she makes sure to visit her chiropractor and loves dry needling! She knows she’s fortunate that she hasn’t been sidelined by serious injuries up to this point (knock on wood) and tries to not do too much too fast.

It may have been a long time coming, but Jenny has finally found her running groove! From the NRC C25K program to the Little Rock Marathon finish line and on to the next goal ahead, Jenny has found the motivation and accountability she needs through NRC.

“It’s more than that,” says Jenny. “Providing the motivation that someone else might need is what’s the most rewarding.”

Congrats, Jenny and thanks for motivating us and all you do for NRC!

JENNY SPEED ROUND:

Local favorite: Yuno Sushi

Running music: Not usually… but when I do, I always start off with Ain’t It Fun by Paramore

Something surprising: My mom ran the first Tom King half marathon, which was my first half marathon.

Hobbies: Camping in the fall; spending time at the lake in the summer; watching sports.

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Ray Sadler

Our male Runner of the Month, Ray Sadler, has an uncanny gift for finding humor in the mundane. His thoughts on things like the perils of bottom shelf items when grocery shopping post-marathon, snag him lots of laughing emojis on Facebook and he brings this same comic relief to every run. While he owns that it didn’t come easy, it’s clear he’s now found an outlet that keeps him pushing himself to new limits!

A west Nashville native, Ray was raised not far from the streets he now runs. He and his wife, Angela, have both lived in the 615 pretty much their whole lives and made Nolensville home in August of 2013.

Ray makes videos as the Manager of Media Production for Tractor Supply. By traveling to capture stories from many of their roughly 1700 stores across 49 states (can you guess where they AREN’T?), he has had some crazy experiences!

Through the camera lens, Ray has gotten to learn about wild birds, meet country music stars, make Star Wars parodies, see a litter of pigs being born, fly drones, beat the tar out of a 40 inch bass drum, and see a 4 legged chicken. Plus, thanks to Tractor Supply, Ray has been able to add 3 states to his list of places he’s run!

Before NRC, Ray was never a runner try as he might. There were several futile attempts to pick it up after high school, but his health was big motivator to try again. Both sides of his family deal with high blood pressure, so there was no avoiding it for him. Medication alone wasn’t getting it down to where it should be; plus, he was putting on a bit of weight.

He jokes that he first heard about NRC through Facebook posts by angry people cussing runners on Wednesday nights, but in reality it was well-meaning friends and neighbors. Around that time, Angela started encouraging him to try running. It was like the universe was telling Ray to do the C25K, but he was a staunch “0.0-er” and holding the line.

“Then,” Ray laughs, “Angela told me I was getting fat.” LOL! [Cue the “Chariots of Fire” theme.]

The universe won and Ray joined the NRC C25K in 2015. Now, he’s officially addicted to running. His BP with medication and running is down to a reasonable level and he’s lost about 30 pounds since he started!

One of his favorite NRC memories ever came during the 2015 Middle Half, his first. He hit the wall just after mile 11. It was the farthest he’d ever run and his body was done as he stared down the final 2 soul-crushing miles.

“So, I was slogging along at mile 11.5 in my C25K tech, trying to figure out what I’d gotten myself into, when all of a sudden behind me I hear, ‘Hey NRC! You got this. You’re almost there. Come on!’ I had no idea who it was. Had never laid eyes on them,” Ray recalls. “But I saw their NRC shirts, and heard them tell me I could do it, so I kept going and got it done. I now know it was Jimmy Stitt, with his wife, Jamie, and another runner or two, just out there being Jimmy. And I’ll never forget it.”

Funny story about how things change… His finish time pacer had been called THAT MORNING to run and he remembers thinking, “What?! You just got up and ran 13 miles!?” Well, this past year Ray ran 13 or more miles 28 times!

Some of Ray’s favorite friendships were made through that first C25K and he enjoys giving back in many ways, including sharing his production talents to create a super cool video to promote the C25K program! (Click here to view)

From the start, Ray found himself on the fast track! He joined NRC’s C25K in April 2015, ran his first 5K that June, his first 10K in September, his first half that October, and was training to run his first marathon the next April (a year after starting)! In January 2016, his progress was slowed by a stress fracture in his tibia from pushing himself further and faster so quickly. He learned a lot about building up as a runner from that experience.

He can’t say enough about the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. The 2016 event was his first full, which he finished in 5:00:10. He recalls it being such a well-done race. Relatively flat. Great race support throughout. And running through the hospital campus? Don’t even get him started on that.

His advice, “If you’re from Nashville and looking to run your first full, forget about the two Nashville races, go directly to Memphis.”

One achievement he is especially proud of is his current half PR. He set a goal at the beginning of 2017 to run 1000 miles (he ended up with 1300) and a sub-2:00 half. He proceeded to agonizingly come within minutes, half after half. 2:01 at the Tom King in March. 2:04 at the Flying Pig in May. Finally, on December 16, in an unofficial, solo run on the Murfreesboro Greenway, he did it. 1:59:57. It’s on his Garmin, so he’s counting it!

He completed his second marathon in Little Rock 2018 with a crazy crew of NRCers. His goal time was 4:30 and he finished with a 4:15:45 (that’s a 45 min PR if you’re keeping track)!

After that incredible feat, he’ll likely relegate his runs to the Dairy Dash, the Franklin Classic and other non-5K his work will cover, that is unless he talks himself into going for a new PR on the flattish Huntsville course. New York is top on his bucket list with the Chicago and Marine Corps Marathons close behind.

Ray tries hard to maintain a balance between home life and running. Although Angela loves the fact that it keeps him healthy, Ray recognizes that, especially during marathon training, she can feel like a running widow. Luckily, she’s not typically an early riser, so he can do morning runs and hit the occasional Wednesday NRC night. His boys, Luke, Noah and Eli (17, 15, 14), all think they can outrun him.

“In a sprint? Probably,” admits Ray. “But I could outlast them. They’d leave me in the dust, but I’d catch them before they hit 10K.”

Keepin’ it real with a salt and pepper beard that couldn’t hide his wide sincere smile even if it wanted to, Ray inspires us and keeps us cracking up every step of the way!  We are blessed to have this easy-going, wisecracking, mile-logging guy as such a great representative of NRC!

RAY SPEED ROUND:

Local favorite: Yuno Sushi

Running music: Anything from “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack.

Something surprising: Angela and I lived in South America (Santiago, Chile) for a year.

Hobbies: Sleep and the Food Network.