Justin Gillette ranked No. 2 in the country and No. 5 in the world for most marathon wins.
“A goal of mine is to get a 2:22 pace because that was the qualifying pace for the Olympic Trials,” said Gillette.
Unfortunately that has changed to a 2:18 pace for qualification but Gillette said, “I still go for a 2:22 pace because just because something changes doesn’t mean you change. You never change your goals.”
It all started on February, 14 ,1996 when he was at his aunt’s house in Wynne, Arkansas. He ran 1 mile from his aunt’s house to the local general store and bought a doughnut. Although that seems strange it was the dawn of an era because that inspired him to start running.
Justin has always been inspired by his mother because she would work all day and then do some exercise. The hardest race Justin ever ran was a marathon in Memphis, Tennessee at St. Jude Children’s Hospital, and he saw the children that were terminally ill and that broke his heart. He also had an injury from an incident with a chainsaw.
Justin literally has a miracle baby. Justin was supposed to go to the Boston Marathon but he had to stay to see his baby when she was born. Now he owes his baby his life.