Written by Mia Pollard.
Janet Zevallos started running as a way to clear her mind. After losing her father to prostate cancer on Memorial Day in 2011, she picked up the hobby as a healthy way to process the changes happening in her life. Janet started the Couch to 5k challenge, completed a race and loved it so much that she kept running despite having no end race in mind. After a cross country move (her third!), she considers herself lucky to have found community in Tri It For Life.
Tri It For Life is a 501c3 organization that enables women to complete their first triathlon through the help and support of triathlete mentors. According to their website, Tri It For Life’s mission is based on “empowering women of all ages, sizes, backgrounds, and abilities to develop healthier lifestyles through triathlon training, mentorship, and community.” Janet started with Tri It For Life as an athlete in 2017, just six months after her big move and found the community support in “Tri,” as she affectionately calls it, to be overwhelming. Janet has been an athlete, a mentor and a local and national board member for Tri It For Life and says, “Though the workload can be heavy, remembering your ‘Why’ is important. When you’re there [on] race day, at the finish line, and the person who was about to quit crosses the finish line… if I could bottle that up, you know? That makes it worth it. So when we’re going through challenges, we remember our reason. This is our ‘Why’.” Janet says finding Tri It For Life was a right place, right time situation. After completing her first race, many of her “Tri-Sisters” joined her in a 5K for ZERO Prostate Cancer, in memory of her father.
ZERO’s Mission and Impact Statement is as follows: “ZERO Prostate Cancer is the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer and help all who are impacted. ZERO advances research, provides support and creates solutions to achieve health equity to meet the most critical needs of our community.” For her first race, Janet’s fundraising goal was $250 – just enough for a memorial yard sign honoring her father.
Through the help of family, friends, and her “Tri Sisters,” Janet was able to beat her goal. “I beat it by a little bit, not by much, but I met my goal. It was awesome! I’m running for my dad!” she says. ZERO’s mission is so important to Janet, she originally drove 90 minutes to Greensboro just to be involved. As luck would have it, she says, the Raleigh race is right here on campus. On October 21, Janet’s team Lalo’s Chasquis – a name honoring her father’s nickname and their Peruvian heritage – will run/walk as they have every year since 2018. Janet is hoping for her biggest team and donation yet, and says being a part of ZERO, for her, is about awareness. “If ZERO is going to be able to help a family through what our family went through, that’s all I want. I wish I had known about them.”
To learn more about ZERO, or to get involved, visit https://zerocancer.org/.