Local runner & triathlete will race in North Shore Inline Marathon

DULUTH - She’s a runner and a triathlete.  She's also a personal trainer and runs her own fitness center in Duluth.  But this Saturday she'll take on a new challenge.

She’s always moving and staying active.  Runner and triathlete Jess Rossing is the owner of Evolve, a personal training and group fitness center in Duluth that opened last fall.  "Personal training has just been rocking, solid booked back to back to back.  It’s so rewarding just to have that client interaction and to see them succeed in what they thought they never would," said Jess Rossing.  Now Rossing herself is taking on a challenge.  She'll compete in the North Shore Inline Marathon this Saturday, the largest race of its kind in the country.  "I am ready, I am ready.  I know I’ll enjoy it," said Rossing.  And to get ready for the race, she's training every day.  This afternoon she got in some endurance circuit training.  "Doing these minute stations for 10 to 12 stations are going to help build that muscular endurance," said Rossing. 

But it's also important to get on those skates.  "It’s been a lot of fun just increasing miles, okay, I’m not as sore this time, okay, this will be easier," said Rossing.  She started training with her inline skates in July, now she's on them 5 days a week and loving it.  "Once you get going, those endorphins kick in and you are like, yeah, I’m ready to go, you know, so it definitely is an addiction," said Rossing.  And it all came with her love for hockey which she started playing in the 8th grade and hasn't stopped since.  "I love being on the ice, I love that movement, the sound of the ice and that's where rollerblading came in.  I can imagine I’m on the ice, just gliding."  She plays hockey, competes in half–marathons and triathlons and now, the North Shore Inline Marathon.  "My whole life has just been sports, trying things here and there," said Rossing.  Honestly my goal is just to finish it, I don't have a time set, just to do it."

Jess Rossing also took up Nordic skiing last winter and just signed up for the Kortelopet half–birkebeiner in Hayward next February.  Her goal is to one day compete in the Ironman triathlon.