Her story
In Honor of Janel
It is hard to put an entire life into words, especially a life like Janel's.
My Sister, Janel
To most people, she was Dr. Janel Mathews — a physician, an athlete, an adventurer, and someone who seemed capable of doing just about anything she set her mind to.
To me, she was my sister.
And as proud as I am of everything she accomplished, her degrees, races, and adventures aren't the reason this foundation exists. It exists because of the way she lived.
Janel had an incredible ability to notice when someone needed her. She didn't wait to be asked, and she rarely wanted recognition for helping. She simply showed up.
She did that for her patients. She did it for strangers. She did it for the people she served on mission trips. She did it for her friends and training partners.
And she did it for me.
Starting Line Foundation is my attempt to carry a little of that forward. Not simply to remember what Janel accomplished, but to continue what she did for people every day: meet them where they are, believe in them, and help them take the next step.
Her story
A Life That Never Stood Still
If you knew Janel, you knew she was almost always moving. Swimming came first. Then running, cycling, mountain biking, skiing, climbing, triathlon — if it was outdoors, difficult, or a little adventurous, there was a good chance she wanted to try it. But alongside all of that was an even bigger commitment to medicine and service.
Childhood
The pool
Swimming came first. Early mornings, cold water, and a lot of laps. If you want to know where her toughness came from, start there.
University
Chasing medicine
She loved science, and she worked at it the same way she trained — steadily, without needing anyone to push her.
Medical school
Becoming a physician
Long years and longer nights. She kept saying medicine was really just paying close attention to people, and she meant it.
Residency
Family medicine
Family medicine suited her. She wanted the whole picture of a person, not a single problem, and her peers looked to her for it.
Fellowship
Sports and wilderness medicine
She trained for the places where help is hours away. That was very much her — calm, prepared, useful when it counted.
Service
Mission trips
She carried her medical training to people who had very few options, and she came home changed every time.
Everywhere
Running, cycling, skiing, climbing, mountain biking, triathlon
If it was outdoors, hard, or a little adventurous, she wanted to try it. And she always wanted company.
Always
The way she treated people
Patients, friends, training partners, family. She showed up for all of them, usually before anyone thought to ask.
Now
The foundation
Starting Line Foundation is my attempt to keep doing for others what she did for me — showing up and helping them take the next step.
Chapter one
She Came Beside Me
Some of my earliest memories of who Janel was happened in the water. I was struggling, and she noticed.
She didn't embarrass me or make a big production out of helping. She just came over and stood beside me.
That's such a small memory, but as I've gotten older I've realized how much it captures who my sister was. Janel didn't stand somewhere in the distance telling you what you should do. She came to where you were.
And when life became difficult, she had a way of staying there until you were ready to keep going.
Chapter two
She Never Gave Up on Me
One time we lost a GoPro somewhere on a mountain-bike trail. Finding it should have been almost impossible. Everyone else probably would have accepted that it was gone and moved on. Janel kept looking.
She went back over the trail again and again, long after there was any reasonable expectation of finding it.
It's funny that something as insignificant as a lost camera became one of the memories I think about now. Because Janel treated people the same way.
There were times in my life when I wasn't sure what direction I was going, when I struggled, or when I didn't necessarily see in myself what she saw in me.
She never stopped looking for the person she knew I could become. She believed in me when I had a difficult time believing in myself. And she never gave up on me.
Chapter three
She Always Picked Me Back Up
Anyone who has skied knows that falling is part of it. I fell plenty. And Janel would stop.
Sometimes that meant waiting. Sometimes it meant climbing back uphill. Sometimes it meant helping gather everything scattered across the snow before we could keep going.
That was my sister. And it wasn't limited to skiing. When I fell in life, she had the same instinct. She didn't make you feel stupid for falling. She didn't stand over you explaining what you should have done differently. She helped you collect the pieces. Then she helped you get back up.
Looking back, I think that's one of the greatest gifts she gave me. She taught me that falling isn't the end of the story. What matters is what happens next — and who is willing to stop and help someone stand again.
Her servant heart
Her Servant Heart
For everything Janel accomplished, this may be the part of her life I most want people to remember. She served people. Often quietly.
She cared deeply about her patients and about people who might otherwise be overlooked. She volunteered her medical skills. She served on mission trips. She helped people in her community. She gave her time, her abilities, her encouragement, and often her own resources.
She was the person you called when you needed an honest answer. The person who showed up. The person who encouraged you into doing something you weren't convinced you could do. And the person who could make someone feel, even for a moment, like they were the only person who mattered.
Much of that came from her faith.
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Her Christian faith wasn't something separate from the way she served people. It shaped it. Starting Line Foundation is open to everyone, of every belief and every background. But I don't want to tell Janel's story without acknowledging something that mattered so deeply to her.
In her honor
Why Starting Line Exists
I wish Janel were here.
There isn't a foundation, race, accomplishment, or project that changes that.
But I can decide what I do with everything she taught me.
Starting Line Foundation exists because I want other people to experience some version of what I was fortunate enough to have in my sister:
- Someone who comes beside you.
- Someone who believes you can do something difficult.
- Someone who helps remove the obstacle standing between you and the starting line.
- Someone who doesn't give up on you.
That's what Janel did for me.
Now, in her honor, I hope we can do it for someone else.
This is her story. And through every person we help take their next step, a little piece of it continues.