Average Joggler to Compete in IJA Joggling Races

What are you doing this July?

Well, if you have an interest in joggling than the place to be is Lexington, Kentucky for the International Jugglers Association (IJA) Joggling Races. Jogglers from around the world will be competing in the 28th annual event.

Last year, David Ferman dominated winning gold in three events. His dad Len didn’t do too bad either winning 2 gold medals in the middle distance events.

This year promises to be a fun and exciting event and it will be the first one that in which this Average Joggler will participate. I’m really looking forward to doing a race where I’m not the only one in my division. I’ve only lost 1 joggling race in my entire career. Unfortunately, for most of them I was the only joggler. At these races I will be able to see how I stack up in the world of high speed joggling. Am I really just an Average Joggler? We’ll find out.

Since these races are much shorter than my typical marathon distance, my training will be a bit different. Less weekly miles and more track work. I really want to joggle well and hopefully, can actually win a race or two. Based on last year’s times, I’ll be competitive. Although the last time I’ve done a sprinting race was in 2003 in the parking lot after a White Sox game against a couple of drunk fans. There was one guy I just couldn’t beat!

I’m going to be racing in as many events as possible. But certainly, I’ll want to do the 5K. The winning time last year was 22:27. Just a couple of weekends ago I did 21:20. At those races, I’d hope to break 20 minutes.

If you’re going to be at this year’s races, leave a comment below and let the rest of the joggling community know. I’d love to meet fellow jogglers and blog readers.