Racing Through The Years: Local Runner Chases 35th Straight Cherry Festival Finish

“I need to do everything in my power to be able to run the Cherry Festival.”

That was the thought that went through Jami Hollandsworth’s head earlier this year after a misstep on the stairs left her with a minor process fracture to her heel bone.

She had good reason to be concerned. Hollandsworth ran her first-ever road race at the 1990 Cherry Festival, when she was just 11 years old. Since then, she’s never missed a Festival of Races – which, given the one-year hiatus the festival took in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would make 2026 Hollandsworth’s 35th Cherry Festival race in a row.

The thought of breaking the streak broke Hollandsworth’s heart, and not just because a milestone was on the line. Hollandsworth credits that 1990 Cherry Festival 5K with giving her the running bug in the first place – and, by extension, for shaping her life in a huge way. She ended up an all-state runner in high school, and went on to captain the cross country and track teams at Hope College. Since college, she’s been an almost-constant presence at or near the top of local race standings, from 5Ks to marathons. She even went on to coach for Traverse City Area Public Schools, where she’s been a teacher for more than two decades.

“I have competed year-round up until this spring,” Hollandsworth tells The Ticker. “I just love it. I love seeing all the families out there. I love the people lining the course. I love getting to the water stations and seeing students and friends volunteering. I love the whole community around running.”

Few races are as near and dear to Hollandsworth’s heart as the Cherry Festival, and recent years have only deepened her attachment to the race. In 2021, Hollandsworth’s daughter, Molly Kate, joined her mom in the Cherry Festival 5K, at the age of 11, and is now working on her own streak of Festival of Races finishes. Two years later, Hollandsworth ran an 18:05 in the 5K, making her the top female in the race that year; it was her first-ever Cherry Festival victory.

“Growing up watching and participating in these races, I just thought that, if you won the Cherry Festival, that was proof you were really a great runner,” Hollandsworth says. “It’s a bit diluted now since there are four races, versus one or two. It’s not quite the same as when I was younger. But that was still such a neat thing: to think back on myself as a little kid watching these runners and in awe of the winners, and then, at the age of 44, finally, finally winning it.”

Hollandsworth has no expectations of contending for a win this year. Her running shoes spent most of the spring collecting dust in the closet, with Hollandsworth briefly trading running for swimming. Recently, she got the go-ahead from her doctor to start “lightly running” again. While she doesn’t expect to set any land speed records, though, Hollandsworth is still looking forward to toeing the line at this morning’s Cherry Festival 5K.

“I went out on Global Running Day and ran a 5K in the low 20-minute range,” Hollandsworth says. “So, I know I can get through it. It’s only 3.1 miles! I can make it work.”

Even if the mission today is simply about keeping the streak alive, Hollandsworth isn’t ready to leave her competitive spirit in the rearview. Her time in the swimming pool has reminded her of her love for that sport – “I swam competitively on a swim club in middle school, even before I started seriously running in high school,” she says – and has her eyeing triathlons. As for running, Hollandsworth still has some unfinished business.

“I would still like to break three hours [in the marathon]; I haven't done that yet,” she says. “I could retire from teaching after next year. I don’t know if I will, but it does sound appealing in the sense of having a lot more flexibility to train. I’m so limited during the school year right now. I have to get up at 4:30am to get my runs in, and there’s only so much time to fit the miles in.”