Cheryl Makin

@CherylMakin

EAST BRUNSWICK – Run Jax run! It's become a familiar sight around town — hometown "Idol" Jax taking to the streets running mile after mile as she trains for the 2016 TCS New York City Marathon.

Neighbors shout out words of encouragement. Others take on the road selfies with the admitedly "sweaty" singer-songwriter when she slows down.



"I'm getting a crazy amount of support in East Brunswick," Jax said. "Whenever I run when I'm home, they yell out the window. I think it's pretty fun. I'm having such a good time with it."

And on Sunday, Jax will know that all the training, time and sweat put into this effort will have been worth it. Always a runner, but never one to make it past five or six miles, the Season XIV "American Idol" finalist has devoted herself — since July — to making it to that 26.2-mile mark.

"I'd never really surpassed like five miles. Every now and then, when I was in crazy good shape, I would maybe go up to six, seven tops," she said. "I think the most I ever ran was nine miles. And now I'm doing 20-mile runs. I did a half-marathon, the Brooklyn Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, a few weeks ago. That was so much fun."

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Running after thyroid cancer

It was just after her June surgery for thyroid cancer that the 20-year-old decided to strap on her sneakers and make the marathon her goal. Diagnosed in April, Jax "needed" to do this — to regain her health and focus. She goes for her six-month scan in December, but "so far, so good," she said.

"This has given me a new sense — you know how you work for a goal and when you hit it, it is so euphoric," Jax said. "I really feel I was physically putting my body through training and this is the ultimate goal. I put more miles on my body than I did on my car per week! I feel like it was one of those things where it is the perfect opportunity to clear your mind and refresh when you are going through something that day or that week. Running just takes it all off. Your focus becomes you, your mind and your body, and it gets rid of all the petty stuff and the stuff you dwell on. I think it helped me get through a lot."

"There have been a lot of changes in my body," she added. "But the running is helping to regulate everything, I think. And it keeps me in a routine. We will know more at the end of the year."

Always held on the first Sunday in November, the NYC Marathon takes runners and spectators through the five boroughs of the Big Apple. The race, which is the premier event for organizers New York Road Runners, has grown from a Central Park race with 55 finishers to the world's biggest and most popular marathon. Last year saw nearly 50,000 finishers.

Jax is one of 3,865 runners from the Garden State who will wind their way through New York on Sunday. She has completed two 20-mile runs and is hoping another couple of miles at that point will be doable.

"The second 20-mile was against a crazy amount of wind, but I did good. I did not hit the wall that time," said Jax, who noted that since her surgery, her body temperature has been "out of control." "I'm always hot, so I'm hoping for a colder day. The hardest days I trained were during those crazy high-humidity days this summer. I went to LA and it was better there."

Jax finished the half-marathon — her "dress rehearsal" — in good time, at 2 hours, 27 minutes, 9 seconds.

"I knew this was where I was going to practice being disciplined surrounded by all these people," she said. "That one I finished 20 minutes early. Even if you are not competitive, it's hard not to get wrapped up in everything happening around you. Everybody is running at a different pace and you are running in different corrals."

After Sunday's run, an after-party at a club in the city awaits. That's where Jax is hoping to tap into her second wind.

"I think I'm going to need it there," she said.

And she laughed, when asked if the marathon was about time or winning for her.

"No, no, no. It's not about winning," she said. "I was impressed with myself about Brooklyn. I did that pretty quick. If I could do in the four-hour range, I'm good with that. I mean at this point, anything that gets in my way during this marathon, I'm going to just have to truck through it. There is no other choice! No options — no such thing as failure."

"What do the Marines say?" added Jax, who wears the boot strap bracelet and dog tags made by her brother, Matthew Miskanic, a recent U.S. Marine Corps boot camp graduate. "Pain is weakness leaving the body. My brother would kill me if I screwed that up."

Running for a great cause

Training has not been easy. Besides the daily runs, Jax has been busy making appearances and recording in studios on both coasts and in London and Birmingham, England. A six-song EP — filled with songs of "inspiration, heartbreak and the usual Jax-rant" — is forthcoming, hopefully within the next three months.

"I trained in London," she said. "I got wicked lost. I had no idea where I was. I had no data. I had to stop at some store and ask this man how to get back."

Running for Tuesday's Children, an organization near and dear to her heart, Jax's crowdrise page has accumulated more than $2,300 since its inception. Just Wednesday, she bumped it up another $1,000 by offering signed selfies and videos in return for a donation.

"I used my social media power for good," she said, laughing. "Seriously, Tuesday's Children is the best. They are a bunch of really sweet people. Like family, and they remind me of my family and the fire department. All of the 9/11 charities for us are like 'home.' It's a good cause."

An official charity partner of the marathon and known as Team Tuesday, Tuesday's Children was formed in the aftermath of Sept. 11. A response and recovery organization, the nonprofit supports youth, families and communities impacted by terrorism and traumatic loss. Jax knows all too well of the loss of Sept. 11. Her father, John Miskanic, was a firefighter with the NYFD and a first responder to the scene. He survived, but not without serious health repercussions and forced into early retirement from the job he loved.

"This has been a great bonding experience with my dad, too," Jax said of her training partner. "He went out and bought a bike and follows me around. He lost more than 20 pounds and has been getting in better shape."

And on Monday, after the marathon, Jax has big plans.

"I'm going to take a nap," she said. "A long nap. The goal at the end of the marathon — a nice power nap."

For more information or to donate to Jax's effort for Tuesday's Children, go to https://www.crowdrise.com/JAXPack.

Staff Writer Cheryl Makin: 732-565-7256; cmakin@mycentraljersey.com