Shen grads running for Dad
“You have to stay positive and think of what you are working for.”
Back when Shenendehowa High School cross country athlete Danielle “Yellie” Jordan was named the 2014 Times Union Cross Country Allstar Runner of the Year, that was the quote attributed to her by reporter Sean Martin.
It couldn’t be more true today as she prepares for an event inspired by her sister, Kristen Mazzotta, who also starred at Shenendehowa and ran track for Boston College.
The Clifton Park sisters will run the Boston Marathon on April 15 to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s disease.
Their dad Keith, a longtime assistant girls’ track coach at Shenendehowa, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2021.
“He was always someone who really encouraged our competitive nature in athletics so it was really important to us to run the marathon specifically for something that was close to our heart,” Mazzotta said.
The pair were notified they were accepted to run the Boston Marathon as part of its charitable foundation at the end of January. They’ve already raised nearly $13,000.
With 50 days left, they aren’t concerned with how fast they will run the event. The only number they care about is reaching their goal of $30,000.
Estimates suggest that Parkinson’s affects nearly 1 million people in the United States and more than 6 million people worldwide, according to michaeljfox.org. “A renaissance is taking place in Parkinson’s research and therapeutic development,” the Fox Foundation notes.
Participating in the Boston Marathon is like a dream come true for the sisters. Mazzotta as a student/athlete at Boston College came to love watching the marathon in person. Their mom, Terri Jordan, ran the Boston Marathon when Mazzotta was in her sophomore year in college. Their parents are originally from Millis, Mass., a southwest suburb of Boston.
“We were raised as Boston Red Sox fans and Patriots fans and Celtics fans … and there was actually a couple of years growing up when my mom worked in Boston. So, we would always take family trips to Boston,” Mazzotta said. “When I got into Boston College, I could not have been more excited, I think just for so many reasons, Boston has always had a really special place in my heart.”
She lives with her husband in Windham, N.H., just over the northern border of Massachusetts.
“I ran track at BC, but I was much more of a middle-distance runner, the mile was my strong suit. I didn’t know when I would have it in me to run 26 of them in a row. But I guess the time is now,” she said.
Mazzotta will be relying on her younger sister to plot their race strategy. They plan to run together the entire race, starting off with 8-minute miles and pacing themselves to the finish line.
Danielle Jordan, who raced for Uconn and in 2017 was part of a cross country team that won the school’s first American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championship, now works for Brooks Running in Seattle as a researcher. Their coast-to-coast workouts are shared on Strava, a running, cycling and hiking app.
“I’ve been involved in the running world my whole life. And as soon as I shared with my (Brooks Running) team and the company that I was doing this, everyone has been so excited and so supportive and just wanting to help and donate and share,” Jordan said. “Brooks itself as a company will have a presence at the Boston Marathon; we sponsor athletes who will be running. It will be really cool that we will all be there running and for the foundation but also be so closely tied with work.”
In addition to the support from Brooks Running, Mazzotta is backed by her employer, Insight Global, which has offered to match all donations.
“Our CEO Bert Bean, our Vice President Matt Gonsalves, and several of my peers in our Boston office will also be lacing up to run the marathon,” Mazzotta said.
Coach Jordan, also known as KJ, is wellknown in the Capital Region running community. He’s retired now and was manager of the Malta Fleet Feet franchise for many years.
“Our dad is such a positive force in the world. In addition to the way he’s shaped our lives, his influence has reached so many,” Mazzotta said. “He’s the best, an amazing coach, and the best listener. It’s really, really cool just to see how he’s touched so many people. And I think he’s probably one of the most humble people ever. He’ll never be the one to talk about his own accolades or anything like that.”
In retirement, he’s starting to embrace that next chapter of his life, including golf, playing tennis and pickleball along with biking and traveling.
“He’s doing really well,” Mazzotta said.
On April 15th, he’ll be one of thousands of fans cheering on family members and friends competing in the Boston Marathon. Just as he’s done for countless athletes as a running coach in the Capital Region. He’ll be proud of his daughters who are now rooting for him and a foundation that has become an integral part of his life’s journey.