Deanna Kiesel will never forget the feeling she had when she completed her first marathon 36 years ago in Columbus.
“I came across the finish line and I said ‘never again,’” Kiesel said with a laugh. “I am never doing that again.”
Turns out that feeling and mentality didn’t last very long. In fact, the Findlay resident has dedicated her life to running, and she will add another memorable moment to her remarkable journey on Sunday.
Kiesel will be running in her 100th and final marathon when she tours Toledo in the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon. It will be the 1,230th race that the 60-year-old Tiffin native has taken part in — “That includes 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, marathons, triathlons, ultra marathons. I have kept track from day one,” she said — and she is looking forward to spending it with friends before, during, and after the event.
“It’s very exciting. In a way, it’s bittersweet,” Kiesel said. “Sometimes I get a little emotional about it thinking I’m not going to do this again. Then, other times, like one of my last long runs, I was like, ‘Huh, I never have to do this again!”
“So, yeah, there’s mixed emotions, but my body is telling me it’s time to be done.”
Kiesel’s passion for running started in college. The Defiance College graduate spent more than 30 years as an elementary physical education teacher in Defiance and Findlay before retiring, and Kiesel has also worked what she called the “best job in the world” at Dave’s Performance Footgear in Findlay for nearly 11 years.
She has shared her passion of running with others, including training groups and weekly group runs through Dave’s.
People who have been impacted by Kiesel will be returning the favor on Sunday. A pair of five-person relay teams will be running side by side with Kiesel.
“They’re not going for their own personal gain; they’re just running with me to keep me going, and I can’t believe that. The number of people that are going to be in Toledo, it’s actually starting to put a little pressure on me,” Kiesel said. “But it is humbling.
“Some of the things that I have heard people say, like you’re amazing, it’s just what I do. … It’s just part of who I am.”
Longtime friends and relay members Jenny Luna and Becky Etzinger have been grateful to get to know Kiesel. Luna said Kiesel’s passion for running is “like nobody I have ever seen,” while Etzinger described her as “a super nice person and genuine.”
“She has gone up and above to help other people through Dave’s running, and just always being there. She’s there every run, like every run on Wednesday nights,” Luna said. “She’s a part of peoples’ lives, she encourages people to run. She’s just a wonderful person.”
Kiesel, who has run a handful of times in the Glass City Marathon, said she enjoys the event because of its proximity to home, the crowd and community support, and the organization efforts from director Clint McCormick.
“I’ve known her for quite some time, and she’s consistent,” McCormick said. “She’s a very positive person to be around, she does a great job in the running community down there in Findlay promoting the sport. As a past educator, she’s taken that passion to running and continuing that throughout the region.”
Even in the toughest times of her life, Kiesel has relied on running to help her out.
Kiesel was diagnosed with, then beat breast cancer in the late 1990s. Throughout the entire process, one thing didn’t change.
“I never stopped running,” Kiesel said. “Never stopped running. I ran all through everything. That was good up here [in my head]. That was mentally a big thing for me. There were a lot of days I didn’t want to go out and run, and I thought, ‘Nope, I can do this. I’ve got this.’”
Running for those who have battled the illness is a big reason Kiesel has gotten to the milestone number of marathons. She said after her 97th marathon, she had “pretty much written it off as, I can’t do anymore.”
Two of her close friends, Ken DeMarco and Bob Edds, were diagnosed with terminal cancer at about the same time, and she decided to continue running marathons for them.
“I watched both of them battle,” Kiesel said. “When I saw what they went through and continued — smile on their faces every day, ask them how they were doing, never complained — I thought, I can do it.
“My one friend, Ken, really encouraged me. He said ‘You can get to 100, you can get to 100.’ After he passed away, I was pretty determined. Then my other friend passed away just earlier this year, so I was like ‘Those two, Bob and Ken, showed me ultimate determination,’ and, I decided, ‘You know what, I’m doing this for them.’”
In preparation for the Glass City Marathon, Kiesel said she maxes out at about 55 miles per week of running. She also swims quite a bit and uses an ElliptiGO bike, her primary mode of transportation, to supplement her run training.
Kiesel’s running career won’t be over after she crosses the finish line in the Glass Bowl. She will still compete in races of shorter distances.
“Running is my happy place. It really, truly is,” Kiesel said. “I used to tell kids at school, if you see me out running after school, you know it’s been a rough day because I’m an early-morning runner.
“I would always get up and run before school, and sometimes, you just need that extra whatever, that stress relief of running. It keeps me mentally focused, it really does.”
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