Running for Alex: Jana Kizakova's Emotional Road to Boston

About this episode

Jana Kizakova shares her emotional journey of qualifying for the Boston Marathon in memory of her former manager, Alex.

Jana Kizakova ran her first marathon in 2017 on a New Year's resolution dare — finished in 3:44 and swore she'd never do it again. She meant it. Five years went by with zero marathons. Then a quiet moment on a seawall in Vancouver changed everything. Inspired by the memory of a former manager named Alex who ran alongside her on her worst training days, Jana set a single condition: if she was going to run again, she had to qualify for Boston. What followed was nine marathons, a pair of shoes that literally fell apart mid-race, a heartbreaking near-miss on the cutoff, and finally — a 3:19 at the Mountain to Beach Marathon in Ventura, California. This is her first Boston, and she's running every mile with Alex's name on her shirt. We sat down with Jana at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza the day before the race. Don't miss this one.

People in this episode

Host: Chris Detzel

Guest: Jana Kizakova

Topics covered

• marathon running
• Boston Marathon
• personal journey
• inspiration
• overcoming challenges

Keywords

• marathon
• Boston
• Jana Kizakova
• Alex
• running
• inspiration
• training
• Mountain to Beach Marathon

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hilton Boston Park Plaza

Places: Vancouver, Boston, Ventura, California

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