When it was announced that Janice had won, she was amazed: “I was shocked because I honestly thought it was going to be a woman who coaches tennis. You can see on the TV footage, I’m not expecting it at all, I’m shocked and stunned. “I received a trophy, and it’s beautiful, a heavy cut glass trophy.” Modest Janice adds: “Everybody was saying it was well-deserved and that they knew that I would win, but it’s the power of social media – I know a lot of people and a lot of people clearly know me and voted for me. “I just want to thank all the running community for voting, because without their votes I wouldn’t have won.” It’s been a huge journey for Janice, who reflects: “To think, four years ago I hadn’t run a step! “I started with parkrun and I took 48 minutes to complete it. I came home and cried, I was so stiff, I ached. I got in the bath and I didn’t
know how I was going to get out again! “But I felt amazing after – I climbed out of the bath and I felt really good. I kept going back and my times started going down, and I would go out during the week and my weight came down, and because you’re exercising you’re inclined not to eat rubbish.” Once she’d got the running bug, she encouraged parents waiting for their children at Kilmarnock Harriers sessions to use the time for a jog themselves. She now coaches at the club, leads a twice-weekly jogscotland group called Janice’s Joggers, and holds sessions for pupils at Loudoun Academy: “Part of the reason why I started up the jogging group was to force me to go out and it also meant that I could go out at night with other people and be safe. “Janice’s Joggers often go and join the Harriers, which they think is going to be a big leap for them, but when they do that now there’s a lot of others they know from the jogging group, so they feel very welcome.”
Janice Millar 27
jogscotland magazine Spring 2016