Jane was not born a runner, far from it. She started her running journey ten years ago in Durban (East coast of South Africa) where she is from. At that time her favourite pastime was smoking cigarettes. Twenty cigarettes a day was too much and she decided to quit. As you would expect the weight started to pile on, then something had to be done, and running was one solution to the problem. This is how the story goes.

A close friend of hers, Wally Vermonti, who himself wanted to lose some weight and get fit for an upcoming walking holiday in Kenya with his wife, suggested to Jane that they do a bit of running.

Here’s where it gets a bit crazy, Wally went of walking with his wife to Kenya which I believe was very nice, and Wally took a deserved break once he returned from holidays, but Jane basically never stopped running since.

Jane has finished Five Comrade Ultra Marathons in her Native South Africa, check out www.comrades.com . Her first of these was in 1998, just two short years after she took to the roads. As part of her preparation for these races Jane would also compete in shorter ultras such as the Two Oceans, check out www.twooceansmarathon.org.za and 60 km route testers along with Marathons.

Jane has now left her native country and has been living in Cork since 2002. Why would you think someone could have swapped the awe inspiring beaches of Durban for the slightly colder climate of Ireland? Love is the answer to the question. Jane married Donal who is a Cork native. Donal is a great great support for his wife’s running passion and would always smile at her love for cappuccinos which always need to be served very very hot.

Ken Whyman another member of EAC introduced Jane to our club. He persuaded her to participate to our weekly Tuesday track session at CIT for a trial. She has never left the club since and is often present at the Tuesdays sessions where she is always ready to welcome and help new comers. If you spot a tall very athletic looking woman, with a magnificent well maintained tan, then you’ve met Jane.

Jane also has this very inclusive personality, which as a club member makes her priceless. We all know what it’s like to arrive to a track session or a group run when you know absolutely none of the group, you just thought it might be a good idea to get involved in running, or better still in a running club. But as many of our more recent members will testify, if you’re lucky enough to meet Jane on one of those nights, unknown to yourself you will just have taken your first steps to a long a hopefully happy life of running (and a lot more besides).

This is due to the fact that Jane can show any newcomer or even a returning runner that you don’t have to be Haille Gebresselasie or Sonia O Sullivan to join a running club and still reap the benefits of all that running has to offer us.

But before you begin to think that Jane is someone who goes out for a few easy fun type runs two or three times a week, well that’s where you’d be wrong. It’s quite the opposite actually. Jane very rarely misses a day’s training, possibly trains as hard as many elite athletes, just not at the same pace. Her training in the early days was done at 4:00 am due to intense heat in her native South Africa.

Along with all of the above, Jane has a full time job, a hectic social schedule, if herself and Donal are not entertaining at their house, they will be attending dinner parties, barbecues or social functions elsewhere. She also plays golf and likes to go for long walks with groups in the countryside.

Joe Roche and Emmanuelle Legrand