Milwaukee Entrepreneur To Log Miles For 48 Hours For Local Kids

Milwaukee WI

26 February, 2021

4:29 PM

Description

MILWAUKEE, WI – A Milwaukee entrepreneur who makes living helping others establish good habits but who isn't in the habit of running isn't about to allow a nagging knee injury from keeping him from taking on an ambitious goal of covering some serious miles to benefit local young people. Joshua Janis will set out next week to run four miles every four hours for 48 consecutive hours next week as part of a grueling 4x4x48 Challenge that is part of a nationwide fund-raising effort. Janis, 37, is scheduled to set out on the two-day endeavor on March 5 and if he is successful, will finish at around 6 p.m. on March 7. A knee injury has kept Janis from training the way he normally night for an event like this, but he is intent on finishing to raise funds and awareness for City Champs, a Milwaukee not-for-profit that teaches young people discipline and positive life skills through martial arts. Janis, who owns MyOdisee, a Milwaukee habit-forming company, is a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu and has taken on the challenge despite one big hurdle: He isn't particularly fond of running. A sprained lateral collateral ligament sustained in early January has hampered Janis' training, which, he told Patch in an email Friday, would have included building up to completing the four miles an hour multiple times in a day before completing half the challenge as a build-up to the actual event. Despite the injury and fears over possible sleep deprivation over the two days of the challenge, Janis is ready to get through the endeavor — any way he can. "From a personal perspective, I believe that challenges like this help dissolve personal ego," Janis said in a news release. "I stop learning as much when things get comfortable so as unbelievably exhausting as this will be, it's a form of personal therapy." Janis plans to complete the hours of running on the Oak Leaf Trail or along the lakefront near his St. Francis home, he said. However, if inclement weather becomes an issue, he plans to tackle the challenge on a treadmill. He plans to post social media updates on various platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok and plans to highlight various sponsors of his run with a collection of T-shirts for each segment of the two-day challenge. "The energy and focus Josh is putting into this event is entirely reflective of who he is as a person," said Jared Bell, the founder of City Champs. "We would not be able to help as many kids nor have as large of an impact in Milwaukee without incredibly dedicated people such as him."