Janet Mui, Forest Hills' First-Time Marathoner

Janet Mui, a Forest Hills mother of two, is in for some pain on Monday. She's running her first ever marathon this weekend, and it's one of the biggest in the world.

The New York City Marathon is a tradition that's almost without peer, and it's a challenge that many runners never get the chance to chase down.

Mui said she was excited and nervous about the race, largely because she's never run a full 26.2 miles before.

"I'm going to be in a lot of pain when I'm done," she laughed during an interview on Friday afternoon. "I'm not sure what the aftermath's going to be like."

Mui has been running long-distance since 2005, when she took up the sport as something she saw as a fun, easy opportunity to get healthy.

"I was just searching to find something to do, and I saw these classes that the New York Road Runners offered," she said. "At that point we started running one minute, walking one minute. We did not understand how people could run a full 26.2 miles."

She said that little by little, the thought dawned on her that she might one day want to try for the big race.

That day was supposed to come in 2008, but she had to bow out when she became pregnant with her daughter.

Now, with two children, she said that running is something she's taken to in the "in-between" times. When the kids are in school, at night after her husband gets home, sometimes in the dark — which she admits is a challenge all its own.

Mui said she likes to run in Forest Hills Gardens and , but wouldn't recommend hitting the trails there when the sun goes down.

This being her first marathon, Mui said she's very much looking forward to the Brooklyn stretch of the race, which she's heard is fun because of the combination of fresh-rested runners and supportive crowds.

She's most nervous about the last leg of Manhattan, after the turn in the Bronx, she said, because that's the point at which the mileage of the race outpaces her training.

"The one thing I'm dreading is probably the last six point two miles, that's through Central Park, I think," she said. "I've only gone twenty miles before. To do another six miles — another hour of running for me — I don't know what's going to happen."

Mui said her goal is to just finish the race, period. She'd like to finish in under five hours and thirty minutes, because she is confident she can run that long. Anything longer than that, she admits, she's going to be dogged by the fear of injury. For someone who runs as a way to relax, that's the last thing Mui wants.

"For me, running is sort of a break from being a mom and being at home and working," she said. "Some people do yoga — I do running. It just relaxes my mind. I didn't think so in the beginning because it was so painful, but now it's a real stress release."