Most people associate staff member Jennifer Dice specifically with music classes, but many are not aware that she has another particular interest, running.
“I started running in college, I actually ran track in high school and by ‘ran’ I mean I ran to somebody’s house and ate during practice and then came back, I hated running” Dice said.
Despite her dislike of running in high school, her opinion has since changed drastically.
“I started running in college and began to love it, and it was really a way to keep off the freshman 15 but then it sort of turned into an addiction.”
Dice has continued to run ever since, even taking part in the Boston Marathon in both 2005 and 2009. Her fastest run, however, was in 2011 when she was the second female to cross the finish line of the Carmel Marathon with a time of 3:25:47. Interestingly enough, as she neared the finish line in this race, she grew tired and slowed down to a crawl. She was about to stop, but at just the right time a biker rode beside her and gave her what amounted to a pep talk to keep her running; he would not let her slow down.
While Dice was thankful for the support, she said, “At the time I wanted to kill him.”
As the years went on, Dice’s love of running has extended past her own personal running. For five years, she helped coach the varsity girls cross country team with Wes Dodson, but had to stop after having children. She does, however, train with the team from time to time.
“I run with them occasionally, I’ve been a little more consistent in doing it a couple times a week,” she said.
Dice strongly encourages those who want to try out running to just go for it.
“You don’t have to just be in high school to run, you can be any age. There are tons of races every weekend, just pick one. I would encourage people to start with something small and set a goal, just go after it, once you’ve completed one, you get a sense of satisfaction in that you’re likely going to be compelled to do another one,” Dice said.
Dice fully acknowledges the irony in that running was once an activity she hated in her time in high school, only for it to turn into an “obsession” in her college days.
“I would say you try something once and maybe you don’t enjoy it but try it again later in life and see, because you just never know when things may click at that moment and it just works for you.”
