Don Janicki (born April 23, 1960) is an American long-distance runner. As a student at

Mesa High School (Mesa, Arizona) Mesa High School is a public high school in Mesa, Arizona, United States. Mesa High School currently accommodates grades 9–12 as part of Mesa Public Schools. Mesa High School is the oldest high school in Mesa, Arizona, and is home of the Jackra ...

in 1978, Janicki set the state high school record for the mile with a time of 4:09.95. The record would remain 35 years until

Andy Trouard Andy Trouard is a professional American Distance runner who competes in the 5000m for the Oregon Track Club Elite and has a personal best in the event of 13:21.07. In 2018, he won the NCAA Division I National Championship in the 3000m, won two tea ...

of Salpointe ran a 4:09.71. He later competed for the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

and earn All-American honors in 1980 and 1981 in cross country. During his 1982 track season, Janicki ran the

5,000 meters The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

in 13:44.20 and the

10,000 meters The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

in 28:27.87, putting him in the top 10 fastest University of Arizona runners in each event. In 1987, won the Holiday Bowl Marathon in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, California. He drove away from the race with $4,000 in prize money and a new convertible. The 1989 year took him to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

for the

Twin Cities Marathon The Twin Cities Marathon (TCM) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area which normally takes place the first weekend in October. The race is often called "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America" due to ...

, which he won in a time of 2:12:18, earning him $25,000. Janicki ran his fastest marathon time in 1985 in the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

, which fielded strong competition with world-class finishing times. Janicki's PR of 2:11:16 put him in seventh, four minutes behind British runner

Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist *Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...

, who was hoping to set a second consecutive world record that morning. While Jones did take the win in 2:07:13, a minute faster than his previous world record the year before, it wasn't fast enough to beat

Carlos Lopes Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes, GCIH (, born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner. He won the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming Portugal's first Olympic gold medalist and setting an Olympic ...

's 2:07:12 set in April 1985. Janicki's time was the fourth-fastest marathon time by an American in 1985. He won the

Cleveland Marathon The Cleveland Marathon is an annual marathon in Cleveland, Ohio. The course begins at the corner of St. Clair and 9th and participants have eight hours to finish the race. The first edition was held in 1978. A half marathon, and 10K, including a ...

in 1993 and 1994 with times of 2:11:39 and 2:15:04 respectively. He was back in the top finishers at the

1994 Chicago Marathon The 1994 Chicago Marathon was the 17th running of the annual marathon race in Chicago, United States and was held on October 30. The elite men's race was won by Brazil's Luíz Antônio dos Santos in a time of 2:11:16 hours and the women's race wa ...

with a fifth-place finish in 2:13:21. In 2016, Janicki was inducted into the Colorado Running Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janicki, Don Living people 1960 births American male long-distance runners American male marathon runners People from Arizona University of Arizona people Mesa High School alumni