Since 1994, Jeff Pelletier has run farther than the distance between Boston and Los Angeles. Twice.
The Ohio State alumnus plans to add another 26.2 miles to the tally with Sunday’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon.
It won’t be his first race either. Since 1994, he has run 10 marathons and 13 half-marathons, and the races have taken him to places from Washington, D.C., to Iceland.
Pelletier, who works with OSU as associate director of events at the Ohio Union, said his service in the U.S. Navy first ignited his passion for running.
“I was stationed in Connecticut in the Navy after I graduated from college, and I used to go out for runs with a buddy who was stationed there too,” Pelletier said. “It all started by just going on three- or four-mile runs a couple days a week.”
Pelletier has been on the move ever since.
“He loves it. There is just something inside him,” said Pelletier’s wife, Jen Pelletier, who works as associate director of the Union. “Even when it is cold and dark and maybe rainy, he will still get up and go out running.”
It is the same passion for running that causes Jeff Pelletier to encourage others to participate in a marathon or half-marathon. He is currently the chapter adviser for the OSU Fraternity Delta Tau Delta and the faculty adviser for the OSU Running Club.
Jeff Pelletier said several students in his fraternity and the OSU Running Club are planning to run in the Columbus Marathon this weekend.
“My hope is that we are able to run at least a portion of it together, but it’s hard to ever feel like you’re running alone when you have 15,000 people running alongside you,” Jeff Pelletier said.
Erica Kelly, president of OSU Running Club, said Jeff Pelletier’s role in making the club a success has encouraged her to sign up to run in the Columbus Marathon for the second year in a row.
“I did my first (half-marathon) last year at Columbus because so many people in the club were doing it,” Kelly said. “So running in the Columbus Marathon for the past two years can be attributed to the OSU Running Club.”
Jeff Pelletier said being able to share his passion of running with the next generation of athletes and watching how hard they train is what makes him look forward to the future of the sport.
“You really do have to be dedicated to the cause to be able to get out and do those miles several days a week,” he said. “There’s no medal at the end of a 20-mile weekend training run.”
The Columbus Marathon is set to start near the intersection of Broad and Third streets in downtown Columbus at 7:30 a.m. for walkers and runners Sunday morning.