John Collet II still finds time to run despite a busy work and family schedule.
He is a technical information group leader for Exxon Mobil in Joliet, and he and his wife Ann have five children.
The 1985 Highland High School and 1989 North Central College grad recently finished 21st overall at the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon. He completed the race in 2 hours, 47 minutes, 35 seconds, and was second among males in the 40-44 age group.
"I still like running and competing," said Collet, who made All-America five times at North Central. "The Green Bay marathon was neat because you ran down the same tunnel the Packers do and you take a lap around Lambeau Field.
"I mean, you are on the same field as the Super Bowl champs. That was amazing in itself."
Collet said he and his group are responsible for data entry and drawings of equipment for an in-house web page.
"It is internal information for our engineers and clients," Collet said. "We have everything put together and it is all on computer.
"It really helps I have great people to work with. A good staff is a big plus and makes my job easier."
Collet has been with the company since 1989 and has seen the technology changes.
"I remember in college working with Cobol and Fortran," he said. "It sure has changed quite a bit."
Collet's dad, John, was also a good runner in the 1960s at Griffith High School and that influenced the son to follow in his father's footsteps.
"My dad was a big influence because we would run together in the summer," Collet II said. "Those were the greatest times, running on Miller Beach and the Indiana Dunes in Chesterton. It was also great training -- running in the sand made you stronger."
Collet was an athlete who enjoyed greater success in college than he did at the prep level.
He was a big part of North Central's cross country and track accomplishments, which included winning the 1989 NCAA Division III indoor and outdoor track championships. Collet was second in both the 5,000-meter run indoors and the 10,000 outdoors. In cross country, North Central was the 1987 NCAA Division III champion.
Collet credits Cardinals coach Al Carius for a lot of his success.
"He taught us how to train, eat and mentally prepare for a race," Collet said. "He was a mentor and he worked with you to make you get better, and running for him, you wanted to make yourself better."
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