As a former Olympic athlete, Judi Brown Clarke is used to running, and she says she's already off in the Lansing mayoral election.
"We're not on the starting blocks right now, you know, I'm well into this race," explains Clarke.
And even though this isn't the same kind of race, she sees a lot of connections between politics and sport.
"You don't compete against competitors, you compete against what it takes to be a champion," Clarke says with a smile.
That's the attitude she wants to take against her opponents.
Clarke is the second big player to put her name in the hat for Lansing mayor, representative Andy Schor is the other.
"I announced a week ago," states Schor, "and even though the players have changes, for me it's the same effort."
Both say they will focus on their own accomplishments rather than attack each other.
"If I'm focusing on my candidate, that means I don't have anything else to speak about myself," says Clarke. "That's not my style, cause I have a lot to speak of!"
That includes one year as president of Lansing city council and two as vice president, plus a diverse background.
And if Clarke is elected mayor? She says she wants to reinvest in the city.
"We will be a destination city, we will be leveraging nuclear energy, we will be growing our population base, we will have that tax base that will allow us to reinvest in our neighborhoods," she proclaims.
Now, Clarke turns her eyes towards the gold as the race goes on.
