Jennifer has had a love for running since the age of 12. She competed on the Bartlett High School cross country running and track teams in Anchorage and briefly on the Pineville High School running teams in Louisiana where she won the State Cross Country Championship title in 1990. Jennifer enjoys running in the various races, from 5K to 13.1 miles as well as the Gold Nugget Triathlon every year during the short Alaska running season. She particularly likes to push the envelope and run as fast as she can in her favorite 5K races. You’ll often see her out on the trails in the Fall with her family at the Bonny Sosa Tuesday night races too. Jennifer is involved in coaching running and water running with Multisport Training of Alaska as well as serving as an Assistant Running Coach for the Service High School Cross Country Running team. She is a certified running coach with both the Road Runner’s Club of America and the National Federation of High School Sports. When she’s not running, Jennifer serves as a Logistics Officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
Wendy Sailors Wendy has been running Alaska's Mountains and trails since she was in Junior High. She evolved into more of a mountain runner when Mount Marathon stole her heart twenty-six years ago, but still dabbles on the trails and roads, sometimes running races anywhere from a 5k to a marathon. She works for Public Health as a Grant Program Manager in Tobacco Prevention and is a coach at OrangeTheory Fitness in South Anchorage. She is a certified personal trainer through ACE and has coached high school track and elementary basketball. Other hobbies include eating good food, hanging out with her pups, laughing as much as possible, and travel. She loves to help others reach their fitness and lifestyle goals so share yours! You can email Wendy at wjsjpba AT gmail.com
Emeritus Coaches Kristi and Jill
Kristi Waythomas Kristi has been coaching and inspiring women on the Exceed team since 1996 when she started as an assistant coach and then as head coach in 2000.
Kristi is an incredibly talented runner in her own right. She made history during her four years at Kodiak High School, remaining an unbeaten cross-country runner from her freshman year through her senior year. She was the Alaska State Cross-Country Running Champion from 1983-1987. She holds the State record in the 3200 meters (10:37.7) which she set in 1996. During her college years she set several Big Sky Conference records in the 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 meters and XC running. She was the bronze medalist at the 1995 World University Games in the marathon and became one of only a few American women distance runners to medal in international competition. More recently Kristi has taken up the sport of triathlon and has been a top local finisher and a national caliber age-group triathlete. In 2006, Kristi was inducted into the Alaska High School Hall of Fame. She's very active in the running community, coaching junior high students, volunteering with various groups and the Run For Women.
Kristi is a math teacher at Central Middle School. In spite of her athletic accomplishments, Kristi would probably admit that her greatest achievement is being a mom to son Tyger and daughter Kailee.
Jill Follett Jill’s running career started in grade school where she enjoyed racing (and beating) the boys on the playground. Junior High found her climbing over the chain-link fence to get onto the track at night so she could get in shape for tennis. In high school, she ran track and finally discovered middle distance running when she moved to Alaska in the mid 70’s. She quickly became one of the top 5K and 10K runners in the state. She participated in some of the original Gold Nugget triathlons and did well enough to be in the top starting group year after year. Always a lover of the outdoors, she prefers being on the trails and does her daily workouts outside all year round. Chronic knee issues have forced her to reduce her running and pursue other sports including orienteering, biking, and cross-country skiing. After coaching skiing at Grace Christian school for two years she started coaching with Exceed in 2001. Even though she has to limit her running, she loves working with women and helping them achieve their own running goals.
Jill recently received her coaching certification with Road Runners Club of America. Congratulations Jill!