Running 15 Marathon’s in 15 Days to Empower Teens to Fight Poverty

SuSu Jennings is running the equivalent of 15 marathons in 15 days (400 miles). Really, that is not a misprint, SuSu will be running the equivalent of 15 marathons in 15 days (400 miles) to support Teens Opposing Poverty (TOP) that trains teens how to have effective, life-changing ministry with homeless and other poor people.

Although this alone is amazing… and TOP is an amazing ministry… it is not even the most amazing part of the story.

From the time she was young, SuSu (a nickname for Susan) Jennings was always on the edge of being overweight. As long as she was active she could maintain her weight, but she still was constantly on a diet. After she got married, she wasn’t as active and she began to gain weight. To complicate matters, she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism after the birth of her daughter. Even though medication stabilized her thyroid hormone levels, she didn’t feel right after that.

Raising a young child and a two-hour round trip to work each day left SuSu little time or energy to exercise, so she continued to gain weight. In addition to the lack of exercise, she used food to fight her constant fatigue and stress, which made her gain weight even faster.

For over 12 years, SuSu tried dozens of diets and spent thousands of dollars on special meals and supplements. With each new diet, she would lose 30 or 40 pounds and then hit a plateau where she would stay for months. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t break through that wall. Eventually, she would get frustrated and quit, quickly regaining her lost pounds and then some. As her weight struggle continued, SuSu’s health deteriorated. She began snoring at night and would wake up with her heart racing. By May, 2007 her weight had ballooned to 274 pounds.

SuSu knew she had to do something, so she kept trying. As she continued to research ways to lose weight she read about a connection between gluten sensitivity and hypothyroidism. So she gave up wheat and other gluten laden products for one week as an experiment. After only three days, she stopped snoring and in only one week, she had lost 10 pounds.

SuSu’s next challenge was exercise. She began walking on the mountain roads near her home, but she felt uncomfortable. Finally, after some rude comments from some people in a passing car, her husband suggested that she start hiking the section of the Appalachian Trail near her home. This section of the trail is called “The Roller Coaster” a string of 300 – 600 foot ascents and descents over 11 miles of the trail. The first day, she hiked a half mile path to get to the trail and made it about ¼ of the way up the first hill.

Over time, SuSu’s hikes became longer, and she began walking a two-mile loop in a park in Berryville while her daughter was in dance class. While she was in the park, she saw other people running. One of the runners was an older woman who wasn’t very fast, but she was running every time SuSu went to the park. Finally, one day, SuSu thought, “If she can run, why can’t I?” By this point she had lost about 75 pounds, so she started running. At first she jogged a few feet at a time and gradually increased her distance until she could run the whole loop. As her confidence grew, she began running the trails.

In August, 2008, just 15 months after she began her weight loss journey, SuSu reached her goal weight of 135 pounds. One month later, she ran in her first race. It was a half-marathon trail race (13.1 miles). Since then she has run in dozens of races from 5K to her most demanding run, the Umstead 100 mile race in March, 2010. She finished it in 26 hours, 31 minutes.

And now, SuSu is taking on her greatest running challenge yet, an astonishing 15 marathons in 15 days to raise support for Teens Opposing Poverty. From August 17-31, SuSu Jennings is going to run the equivalent of 15 marathons in 15 days (400 miles) to raise support for TOP. She will start in Winchester, Virginia and run through Front Royal and Chantilly, Virginia before going into Washington, DC. She will then go back through Virginia through Fredericksburg, Richmond, Charlottesville and ending in Lynchburg, Virginia. Along the way, SuSu will be speaking at churches about her journey of losing 135 pounds and becoming an ultra marathon runner, culmination in her first 100 mile race in March of 2010. Of course, she will also be sharing about TOP.

Whether it's people living on the street, in low budget motels or low income neighborhoods, Teens Opposing Poverty (TOP) trains youth to meet physical needs and to offer encouragement and hope in often dire circumstances. For more information, check them out at: www.TeensOpposingPoverty.org

You can follow SuSu as she trains and join her as she prepares to face the greatest running challenge of her life. Stay tuned to her blog or TOP's website for the latest schedule of races and speaking engagements for the 15in15. You can also support SuSu on her run and help TOP continue to challenge youth and meet the needs of the poor by supporting her on her run. Click here for SuSu's Blog