Braidwood woman who 'despised' running finds courage on a preserve path

When Jenny Dinelli first stepped foot in Kankakee Sands Preserve, she didn’t know it would become a training ground for one of the biggest challenges of her life.

She used to drive past the preserve on her way to work and wondered what was going on when she saw construction at the previously unimproved site in 2017. But she never pulled into the preserve, even after an access area, picnic shelter and 2.5-mile trail were built by the Forest Preserve District for public use.

Then, five years ago, a co-worker suggested Dinelli check out the site and walk the Kankakee Sands trail with her. Once she discovered it, Dinelli was hooked. Now, the preserve is one of the 43-year-old Braidwood resident’s favorite places, and it’s where she's training for a 125-mile trail race in Arizona next May.

Because she believes in spreading positivity, Dinelli, who works as a speech therapist in the Reed-Custer School District, wrote the Forest Preserve District recently to thank the District for its preserves and programs.

“I just wanted to send a message of gratitude,” Dinelli wrote. “I started running/walking/rucking the Kankakee Sands Preserve about five years ago thanks to my coworker Colleen Cronin, who introduced me. Since this time, I have fallen back in love with outdoor running and exploring nature.”

Dinelli, who grew up in South Wilmington, said she has participated in the Forest Preserve’s virtual 5K races, including the December Dash, as well as the Be a Trailblazer experience. But it’s the Kankakee Sands trail that has truly ignited a fire in her to push herself.

“Thanks to your trail in Braidwood, I have gained enough confidence to register for the world-renowned Cocodona Sedona Canyons 125-mile race starting May 6,” she wrote.

Dinelli loves to train by “rucking” at the preserve, which involves wearing a backpack with weights. She hopes to build up to at least 60 miles a week to train for the race.

“My input goals include improving my descending footwork with poles, rock-scrambling speed, mental clarity while sleep-deprived and overall endurance,” Dinelli added. “My output goals are to become the first female from Illinois to finish the race and to become a better human.”

In her email, she thanked the Forest Preserve District for all it does to enhance quality of life in Will County.

“Thanks again for providing us locals a safe, clean and incredible place to strengthen our bodies but, most importantly, our minds,” she wrote.

'I can do this, I think'

During an in-person interview at the preserve on a frosty October morning, Dinelli said she mostly played on softball teams in high school and college. She wasn’t a runner or track athlete.

“I despised running,” she said.

But when her sister asked if she wanted to run the 2011 University of Illinois Marathon in Champaign, she agreed – and finished. It’s one of three marathons she’s completed.

While the races seemed easy to Dinelli, she was disappointed that her times weren’t faster than four hours. 

“I was so slow and I was so hard on myself that I just gave up running, basically,” she said.

Instead, she turned to strength training, which she continues to this day.

But then she decided to run a 5K race while on vacation in Sedona, Ariz. She thought it would be a typical race, but it was held on a mountain bike course filled with hills.

“It’s craziness, pure craziness,” she said of the terrain.

That race led to her love of trail running out west  – and training in Kankakee Sands.

“I won the master’s female division for the Sedona Stumble 5K trail race both in 2024 and 2025 and definitely attribute those wins to the rucking I’ve done at Kankakee Sands Preserve,” she said.

When she saw a YouTube video of the Cocodona race, it planted a seed. Then last May, while watching a live feed of the race as she ran on her treadmill, she realized she had logged more than 26 miles.

“And I was like, I just did a marathon with no training – none,” she said. “I can do this, I think.”

When registration opened for the 2026 race, she signed up and began planning her training, with Kankakee Sands as a major part of it.

“It’s perfect,” she said of the trail. “I’m absolutely obsessed with it.”

Dinelli walks on the trail, which features two connected loops, with friends and she runs the path to train. Sometimes she listens to music or podcasts; sometimes she just enjoys the quiet. 

“I was so hard on myself when I was running marathons because I felt I had to keep pace," she said. "It became more of a negative vibe, versus when I’m out here everything is so positive that I can’t stop smiling.”

Dinelli looks at Kankakee Sands as “a gift.”

“And it’s a gift I wish more people knew about,” she said. “The amount of stressors in my life that I have left here is just incredible. I walk away – or run away –  from this trail being much lighter than when I start and pull in the parking lot, and I just wish more people would do that.”

As for the 125-mile race challenge, Dinelli said she felt herself becoming stagnant as she aged.

“In order for me to grow personally and professionally, I feel like I have to step on the edge of what scares me,” she said. “And so, this race is the one thing that frightens me in a weird way. But I crave it so much because I want to grow into being a better human, a better friend, better family member and coworker, and I’m just so fortunate that this trail can provide that for me.”