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At the start of 2021, Janice Davidson took a big leap of faith when she quit her longtime position as the director of recreation at Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville, Mich. to start her own business, North Mitten Events. Eight months later, Janice describes life as full and busy \\u2014 and better than ever.

\\u201cIt can be scary for sure, but it feels great. I\\u2019m doing what I believe in \\u2014 things that I feel that are great for our community, both our planet and our people, and I\\u2019m really excited to be here,\\u201d says Janice, a race director, runner, and mom of two school-age kids who lives on the Betsie River in Benzie County.

Janice returns to the MRG Show to talk about her latest endeavor: bringing back a popular trail run in her beloved area of northern Michigan. The Betsie Valley Trail Run \\u2014 a half marathon, 10K, 5K and 1-mile fun run \\u2014 takes place on Sunday, Sept. 19 on the Betsie Valley Trail near Thompsonville. As Heather mentions during the show, she ran the half marathon back in 2010, when it was under different race management. It also happened to be Janice\\u2019s very first 13.1, in 2011.\\xa0

Along with sharing all of the details of this fall\\u2019s event \\u2014 the race course is flat and incredibly scenic \\u2014 Janice talks about life as a business owner, how things have changed for her in the past several months, and an exciting new role she is taking on this winter (she breaks the official news during this conversation!). She also talks about her love of nature and how important spending time outdoors is to her and her family.

\\u201cI think nature helps us in every way. So getting outdoors, absolutely, and remembering that that\\u2019s really part of my focus, to help protect our planet and get out there and enjoy it.\\u201d there\\u2019s so many opportunities in northern Michigan to explore and to just be.\\u201d

You\\u2019ll also get a special podcast-listener discount code for the Betsie Valley Trail Run. If you\\u2019re looking for a fall race, you\\u2019re definitely going to want to check out this one. Heather is hoping to be there, too!

FIND NORTH MITTEN:

Check out the\\xa0North Mitten Facebook page here.

Learn more about Crystal Mountain and register for the race\\xa0here.

FIND MRG and HEATHER:

@michiganrunnergirlshow on Instagram

@michiganrunnergirl on Instagram

@michigan-runner-girl on Facebook