Jenni Peters – Signature

It’s a crowded Friday afternoon at Varsity Sports running shop.

The lean-legged and tanned are trying on jackets. They pull on fleece and tilt angular arms this way and that before the mirror.

A new mom sits on a bench, trying to decide which shoe will move her back to pre-baby shape. Her son, still coiled and dreaming newborn dreams, sleeps in his seat.

A limber young man stretches on the store floor that’s painted to look like a track.

In the corner, there, a skirted matron wiggles her toes in white, stable sneakers.

From the looks of her, it’s clear: She will never break the four-minute-mile barrier. Her teenaged days are long behind her. She’s borne children, perhaps, and maybe even has grandchildren.

Bet she knows how to stir up a roux. Bet she can fill a stadium with those who adore her. Still, she’s no marathoner—not this one.

But Jenni Peters only sees a runner. No matter who you are, she sees a runner. Her life’s mission: Helping people see themselves as runners. Just give her six weeks, she says.

On the floor, Peters props one elbow on a sinewy knee. She squeezes the lady’s shoe to make sure it fits her perfectly, so that the bones in her feet will strike strength on the street.

Peters was once named one of the top 20 runners in the world. She’s run a mile in less than five minutes. Her personal best marathon time is 2:39:43.

Most of the joggers around this country aren’t fit enough to lace Peters’ shoes. Still, here she is, at the store, on the floor, making sure Maw-Maw will walk—and maybe even run—well in the shoes that slipper these one-of-a-kind, beloved feet.

To be a winner on the road, you have to sacrifice and sweat. To be a winner in life, you have to serve.

It’s a hard lesson. Peters lives it easy.