With the founding of a local running group for mothers called "See Jane Run" a decade ago, however, she happened upon the theory that a few hills, a few turns and a more circuitous path shared with friends might be worth more than all the gold in Atlanta or Athens or Beijing.

Nesbit Mabe and the ladies of See Jane Run (more colloquially called "Janes") have discovered that the most rewarding routes are often roundabout.

"They're all well-educated, they're all highly motivated to be good mothers, and to be a good mother or father, you have to live a good life to be a good example," Nesbit Mabe said.

A huge part of practices is "circle time" before runs to talk about their lives as moms, Nesbit Mabe, a former English teacher, said. "I give the ladies running assignments, but I also give them thinking assignments."

Meredith Bolon, a "Jane" for two years, had played tennis for 20 years before meeting Nesbit Mabe. On the verge of leaving her job, she got more into running.

"The support and friendship of other sharp, educated, working, once-working, semi-working and part-time-working mothers was so important to me when I was ending a 15-year career," Bolton said. Nesbit Mabe, who previously coached the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Pacers youth runners and who still coaches top runners of the Carrboro Athletic Club, was also in a period of transition when the idea of See Jane Run discovered her.

"When I was retiring from elite running way back when, I was a lonely, stay-at-home mom and I felt sure there were others like me," she said. "I didn't just want to go out for coffee or go push my kid on a swing."

Mimi O'Grady hadn't run competitively since high school, "but I saw this mom I knew in running gear. She told me her friend was starting a running group for moms."

Lest anyone mistake See Jane Run for another "Mommie's Morning Out" group, consider that some workouts are so tough, they have become the stuff of infamy.

"Any time Joan uses the word 'fun,' you know it's going to be tough," longtime Jane and mother of four Paula Malek said. "To her, tough is fun."

Most of the nicknames for more notorious workouts seem to include the word "hill."

"Lone Pine Hill," O'Grady grunted, seemingly struggling with the name itself. "It's near Boundary and North Street back in a residential area of Chapel Hill. It's a half-mile hill climb, and then there's another half-mile loop at the top.

"I told someone as we went up, 'The last time I felt like this, I was delivering a baby.'" Still, the feeling at the top is astounding, say the Janes.

"There are times when you're out there thinking, 'Okay, wait. ... I'm 45 years old. What am I doing out here running interval workouts?' But I like the fact that you can actually get better at something at this point in your life," Malek said.

Nesbit Mabe estimated that 50 or 60 mothers have participated in See Jane Run, which she called a "silent force in our community. ... I could list any name and then list all that they do for this community proudly," she said.

But this silent force often grows loud with laughter on the roads and trails.

"We've been accused out at Mason Farm of laughing too loudly," Nesbit Mabe said. "Birdwatchers have 'shh'd' us.

Carefully selected goal races each fall and spring often count among the most salient and precious memories for the Janes.

This past weekend, Janes comprised four-runner teams in the 24-hour Adventure Trail Run at Prince William State Park in Virginia.

"Everybody did great," said Karen Coffee, a Jane since spring of 2003. "It was hot, and thunderstorms rolled in and out. It got wet and slippery and dark ... but we were well prepared and well trained for it. And who would ever have done this without this group?"

Four separate See Jane Run teams tied for first in the women's division, logging 96 miles per team over 21.5 hours of running -- that's just under a trail marathon for each of 14 moms.

"At the Blue Ridge Relay (last year), we were proud because we won it with 35 children between us," Nesbit Mabe said. "That's a 12-person team averaging more than three children each."

One of the binding forces among Janes is undoubtedly the unified will to make their coach proud of them.

"Joan coaches the (Carrboro Athletic Club) people and then she coaches us in such a way that you feel like an athlete," Malek said.

O'Grady said Nesbit Mabe "knows what running's all about, and everyone wants to show her that they're learning what running's all about too."

But beyond being a runner, perhaps being fallible, being vulnerable and being "human" may be what being a Jane is about most.

"You learn after a couple seasons that it's not really about the running," Malek said.

"You get to your breaking points, and they're with you," Nesbit Mabe said. "You develop a bond. Mimi is my daughter Lizzie's Godmother. ... I'm starting to get to know their children, and these ladies love my children."

"My biggest accomplishment is simply being a part of this group through its entirety," O'Grady said. "The only thing I've been involved with longer than the Janes is my marriage."