Photo above: Don showing speed and grit en route to winning the 1993 Cleveland Marathon in 2:11.
By Bruce Kirchner
Meet Don Janicki
Don Janicki has been a member and very active Boulder Road Runner volunteer for many years. He was a very prominent figure on the American and international professional road racing scene from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s.
Don grew up in Mesa, Arizona, where his earliest memory of running was when he was about nine years old. He joined the Mesa High School track team his freshman year and began to show promise by his junior year. At age 17, Don finished his first marathon in fifth place at the Deseret News Marathon in Salt Lake City with a time of 2:37. He broke the Arizona high school state record for the mile (4:09.9) and the two mile (8:58.2) events his senior year in 1978. Janicki was named high school Track and Field All-American the same year. Don attended the University of Arizona with a track scholarship, where he was an NCAA Cross Country All-American in 1981 and 1982.
After college graduation, Janicki turned professional. His career bests on the track included 3:46 for 1,500 meters, 13:44 for 5,000 meters, and 28:27 for 10,000 meters. He dominated the American road racing circuit in the 1980s. He had road racing personal bests of 27:58 for 10,000 meters (Deseret News 1986) and 1:03:16 for the half marathon (Citrus Bowl 1985).
Janicki’s racing focus shifted to the marathon and Track & Field News ranked him among America’s Top 10 male marathoners for 10 years, being in the No. 2 spot in 1986. His career best for the marathon was 2:11:16 at the 1985 America’s Marathon in Chicago.
Don moved to Colorado with his family in 1989. In 2006, he was a founder of the Superior Downhill Mile, which produced the first ever sub-4 minute mile in Colorado. Since 2007 he has served as the BOLDERBoulder Pro Athlete Coordinator. He is currently a banking industry professional, has three grown children, and lives in Louisville.
What was the highlight of your running career and why?
Setting the Arizona state high school record for the mile in 1978 when I was 18 years old. It was memorable because I was the first Arizona high school student to go under 4:10 for the mile. Everything just came together that day, and even my dad was there to watch. It was a magical moment in my life and really jump-started my running career. Up until then I had never thought that I could run that fast or even be able to run competitively in college. Then I realized that I could be a good runner, and maybe even get a college scholarship.
Tell us about your role as Pro Athlete Coordinator for the BOLDERBoulder. What is your greatest challenge with this position?
I had known [BOLDERBoulder race organizers] Steve and Cliff Bosley for a long time because my professional running career had paralleled their involvement with the BOLDERBoulder. Steve approached me about the position because he knew that Rich Castro was going to be stepping down soon. Before Rich retired from the position, he was very generous in letting me tag along his last year to learn more about what he did. The first BOLDERBoulder I was completely responsible for as Pro Athlete Coordinator was 16 years ago.
My greatest challenge has been putting together quality teams for the International Team Challenge. Getting three quality runners from the same country to participate on a team is a tough thing to accomplish. But it’s a great job, and one I fit right into. I believe I understand well how the professional runners feel from my own experience. We treat them very well when they get here, and our prize money purse is one of the largest for any non-marathon event in the world. So I think we, and the race itself, have a pretty good reputation out there in the road racing world; I’m pretty proud to say!
Tell us about your volunteering for the Summer Track Meets. What do you do there and why do you do it? What do you like about volunteering for BRR?
I usually work the finish line timing and lap counting. I volunteer to give back to a sport that has given me so much. I love to see all ages compete. Our meets provide that.
How have you seen the Boulder Road Runners and the local running scene evolve over the years?
It’s good to see that we have more competitive age groups in the BRR. Like I said above, I love competition and am very proud of our club’s standing nationally. It is also cool to see more teams in Boulder competing at the elite level as well.