And WHAT does this have to do with the thread? Whether or not there are truth to those rumors, she is a teenage girl, and if there is any truth, which there is no solid evidence of, this kind of cruelty will not help her get healthy.
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It appears that the 1983 girls' Kinney nationals is one of the ones that got posted on YouTube (there are several years that either weren't posted at all or only had the boys posted, but the girls are included here!)
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Ive been to 10 Footlocker nationals in San Diego the past years. So sad no more. FL did a TERRIBLE job advertising the race! It was NEVER on SD news websites, nor advertised anywhere in SD! No banners, signs, nothing. What a shame! Zero promotion. Awful that Nike highjacked it,,as the Balboa Park course is better than NXN. I went last December, and hardly any spectators- and it was run so well, great announcer always.
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Michael J Fox wrote:
So Much Disappointment wrote:
Agreed! This is why I really fvcking hate what this site has become. Trolls, annoying know-it-alls, pedantic man-children, and insensitive teen boys dominate this sad declining outlet.
My prayers to Janet and her loved ones. May God grant you peace and bring you to a place free from pain and sadness.
This site has been filled with trolls, know-it-alls, etc since the beginning. The level of toxic post seems on the rise though. I am not sure what can be done but that doesn’t matter.
59 is pretty young. At 41 when I see people my age and a bit older getting sick and dying and it starts hitting close to home. Janet sounds like a wonderful person. Watching a loved one die is really difficult. it is not something I would wish on anyone
It's beyond simple. Require registration, require real names. The coward Daddy's money idiots who run this site will never do it though.
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Janet Smith-Leet has passed away. Yesterday, October 12.
Or, as xc runners might say, she has left the course.
The 80s Footlocker champ, NC State wolfpacker, and NJ standout is gone and out of sight.
But I see her footprint dug into the rutted soil ahead of me. I'm chasing her as I did back in the day on that thankless Holmdel course. I was chasing her. We all were...chasing her. Like a foal still finding its rhythm when the gate drops, she bounded gracelessly out of sight and into the woods. For those of us in pursuit, she made us faster. For those running a step ahead, she drove us to our best times.
Janet was a hard-core inspirer. I could tell you about her series of girls camps where a few times I was on staff, blown away by her bursting energy, her ability to teach the mix of hard work with deep self-care that would launch each girl on her way. I could tell you about the individuals she coached, the call to action she felt after the suicide of runner, Madison Holleran. We had come up through the era of athlete suicide. Girls wanting to end their lives after countless weigh-ins or sexual harassment. Her college teammate had jumped off a bridge... Janet knew the impact of thinking you are defined by your results, and fought back with love, courage, inspiration to make sure that would never happen again. Not on her watch.
The last time Janet and I communicated, she said, "I have a strong faith in where I am going, so I'm not afraid." I wish for myself and everyone that feeling of peace on the unmarked course ahead. If you listen to the beat of her footsteps, you will have found the way.
This post was edited 10 minutes after it was posted.446 -
MegWaldron wrote:
Janet Smith-Leet has passed away. Yesterday, October 12.
Or, as xc runners might say, she has left the course.
The 80s Footlocker champ, NC State wolfpacker, and NJ standout is gone and out of sight.
But I see her footprint dug into the rutted soil ahead of me. I'm chasing her as I did back in the day on that thankless Holmdel course. I was chasing her. We all were...chasing her. Like a foal still finding its rhythm when the gate drops, she bounded gracelessly out of sight and into the woods. For those of us in pursuit, she made us faster. For those running a step ahead, she drove us to our best times.
Janet was a hard-core inspirer. I could tell you about her series of girls camps where a few times I was on staff, blown away by her bursting energy, her ability to teach the mix of hard work with deep self-care that would launch each girl on her way. I could tell you about the individuals she coached, the call to action she felt after the suicide of runner, Madison Holleran. We had come up through the era of athlete suicide. Girls wanting to end their lives after countless weigh-ins or sexual harassment. Her college teammate had jumped off a bridge... Janet knew the impact of thinking you are defined by your results, and fought back with love, courage, inspiration to make sure that would never happen again. Not on her watch.
The last time Janet and I communicated, she said, "I have a strong faith in where I am going, so I'm not afraid." I wish for myself and everyone that feeling of peace on the unmarked course ahead. If you listen to the beat of her footsteps, you will have found the way.
Great post. Thank you. May your friend RIP.
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Article from 1984 about Janet Smith.
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/22/nyregion/and-a-runner-stresses-determination.html
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Thank you Meg. I remember you at Bernardsville I believe.
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Another good write-up about Janet Smith.
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She died of cancer on October 12, '25.
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Absolutely fantastic runner. This was back in the very early 1980s with "bad" shoes and not the training teens have now! I remember my 1977 Nikes! Almost no padding, thin! Crap shoes, even in the 1980s!
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