NAME: Jessica Charles
E-MAIL ADDRESS: jlc98_charles@yahoo.com

BIRTH-DATE: 10/05/1976
HOMETOWN (ORIGINALLY): Lewistown, PA
WHERE I LIVE NOW: Belleville, PA
WHAT I DO IN LIFE AS WE KNOW IT: Medical Transcriptionist/autopsy assistant
NON-RUNNING HOBBIES OR INTERESTS: Reading, hiking, animals
A FAVORITE BOOK, MOVIE, TV OR RADIO SHOW: Any book written by Francine Rivers, CSI, Animal planet
NICKNAME (AND WHY): N/A
IF I COULD WRITE MY OWN EPITAPH: "She lived life to its fullest."
I STARTED RUNNING (WHEN, WHERE, HOW...): January 2006 (although I had attemped to start a few times before but quit shortly after because I got discouraged). I had been walking a lot for exercise but I wanted to really challenge myself and felt I'd be more motivated if I joined a group. So I googled "running groups" and the rest is history.
AVERAGE MILES PER WEEK: Anywhere from 10 to 25, depending on if I'm training seriously for a race.  I'm not obsessive about mileage and don't keep a log....I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants, although I'm trying to incorporate more weekly speedwork. Right now I'm ramping up very slowly after a long hiatus. 
A TYPICAL TRAINING WEEK: 3-5 miles 3 days a week right now, with walking, hiking and a few sessions of weight training interspersed. 
PREFERRED RACE OR RACING DISTANCE: 5Ks and half marathons.
NUMBER OF RACES PER YEAR: Here and there, when I feel like it. 
A GOOD 10K TIME FOR ME WOULD BE: 50 minutes.
WHY I RUN: Mainly health reasons.
PEOPLE MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT:  No surprises here....I'm a pretty ordinary person.  Although some people are a bit taken back by the fact that I have the stomach to dissect dead bodies as a second job :) (see above).

** DATE SUBMITTED: 07/10/08


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