Back-to-back Fort4Fitness champion sees personal improvement, community support in annual event

Mariah Jordan believes if you are willing to put in the hard work, it will all pay off in the end. For Mariah, that hard work paid off again this year’s Fort4Fitness Fall Festival, where she once again won the women’s half-marathon.

“Going down the ramp and running into Parkview Field is an amazing experience,” Mariah tells ParkviewSportsMedicine.com. “There are so many people cheering for you, they have the big video board on, and they are announcing your name.”

It’s the second-straight year Mariah, a scheduler at Parkview Ortho Express walk-in clinic, won the 13.1-mile race through the streets of downtown Fort Wayne on Sept. 29. She set her personal best of 1 hour, 22 minutes and 15 seconds—more than 1 minute faster than her winning time last year.

Mariah credits her running journey with playing soccer as a child.

“I played outside midfield, which is a lot of running back and forth. I never got tired, and I always wanted to stay in the game; even when my coach wanted to take me out.”

That endurance led her to join the cross country and track & field teams in middle school and eventually at Homestead High School, where she ultimately competed in the state meet.

Mariah went on to run cross country and track at Manchester University, winning numerous Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference honors and qualifying for the NCAA Division III nationals.

Mariah began preparing for the Fort4Fitness half-marathon in May, building up mileage over the last several months—something she says can be difficult when running by yourself.

“Last year was really hard, because it was my first time not being part of a team,” Mariah says. "I had to figure out how to train, get workouts in and long runs in on my own."

Her longest training run was 13 miles.

Like Mariah, Fort4Fitness has seen so much success over the last decade.

This year, 7,306 people participated in either the marathon, half-marathon, 10-kilometer run/walk, 4-mile run/walk, 5-kilometer, children's race, seniors race or wheelchair races. Mariah finished first among 823 women who ran the half-marathon. The Fort4Fitness Fall Festival is hosted by Parkview Health, and also includes an an free expo the Friday nights before and the Parkview Sports MedicineRecovery Station for runners after their races.

In addition to improving as a runner, Mariah says Fort4Fitness has helped her reunite with old teammates while meeting new friends in the local running community.

"You make a lot of connections with people," she says. "You get to see them get their accomplishments after working hard, as well."