Meet Jaclyn Foroughi, Ultramarathon Runner and Nana Joes Granola Super-Fan

Hey granola-lovers! This week, we're introducing you to Nana Joes Granola friend, long-time customer and super-fan, Jaclyn.

Jaclyn Foroughi is a Stanford GSB lecturer, mother of five, ultrarunner and strong advocate of balanced students with a focus on character building and lifelong learning. In an effort to balance her own life, Jaclyn is a competitive ultramarathon distance runner with several notable 100-mile races completed, including the iconic Western States Endurance Run and Leadville 100. She is the winner of the 2022 Sean O’Brien 100K, and two-time winner of the 2022 and 2023 Quicksilver 100K races. And, on top of all of that, Jaclyn has over a decade of experience in nonprofits. She is Founder and CEO of Brazen FINLIT, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth and marginalized communities through financial education and professional mentorship opportunities.

Read our interview with Jaclyn below.

Jaclyn, introduce yourself to the Nana Joes Granola audience. What should our gluten-free, vegan, organic, paleo, keto, low-sugar crowd know about YOU?

Hello, fellow NJGers! I’m a mom of five who values what I put in my family’s bodies. My kids are super active, my husband runs a public company, and I’m an ultrarunner, so we don’t have a lot of down-time. That means we need clean and healthy fuel to keep us going! 

How did you find Nana Joes Granola? And how did you get connected with Chel?

Granola is such a great breakfast, lunch, snack, trail snack, and fuel for long runs. With five kids, it was important that granola would work for the kids and me. We gravitate toward low-sugar, simple ingredients for healthy body and minds. I used to make my kids homemade granola when they were younger, and the ingredients were almost the same as what I saw in NJG. This was as close to homemade as it got! I wanted to find out what other products NJG had so when I got online, I saw the Breakfast Brownies, and that’s when things got serious. I have ordered brownies nearly every week for the last few years! Getting connected with Chel was the icing on the cake. I believe she reached out to me because I missed my weekly order (amazing customer service!), and I was blown away by her authenticity, integrity, and commitment to excellence. We’ve had an open and honest relationship since then, and I’m so appreciative of all she does at NJG and as an advocate for NJG values.

We gotta know, what’s your favorite from NJG?

Breakfast Brownies! They provide the right nutrition for me to log 100-mile weeks, win races, set course records, and take care of five kids. To be clear, I do not share my brownies with the kids…not because they aren’t good for them but because they are too good for me to share! Everyone knows to keep their hands off mom’s brownies.

Is NJG part of your race-day rituals? What does a race morning or night before look like?

NJG products are such a big part of my diet (almost four per day!) that when I don’t order them, I actually lose weight! Not because the brownies have a ton of calories but because they are my favorite thing to eat. I love chocolate, but on race day, my stomach rejects it. So, NJG sustains my training and life but on race day, it’s all manufactured sugar and processed carbohydrates. I tried whole foods during races when I was starting out but I need a lot of calories, fast and efficiently, to run in the same manner. Don’t judge me but I can also take down a whole pizza at mile 80 of a race. Once the race is over, I crave healthy and clean again. You can see why!

Have you won any awards or notable recognitions you want to talk about? What do these mean to you and your family?

My family and I like to fly under the radar. We are our biggest support system so we don’t look outside of our unit for recognition. Any awards we win make us uncomfortable, so we don’t talk about them. In racing, my biggest competitor is me. I usually set time goals for myself and let places fall where they may. Sometimes that’s 1st place; other times, it’s 17th. All that matters is I got out there, heard the worst from my biggest critic (me), and showed my younger self what’s up by running faster, harder, and smarter.

Talk to us about 100-mile races! How long does this take and what's it like to take on such a feat?

Every 100-mile race is different so times vary depending on a variety of factors like elevation gain, weather conditions (heat is particularly taxing), terrain (rocky, icy, or muddy routes need caution, and some races even have multiple water or even chest-high river crossings!), and fitness. Throw in a menstrual cycle, blisters, a fall, or chafing, and it gets real fun, real fast. My fastest 100-mile was just over 17.5 hours and my slowest was just about 27 hours! I now try to get them done fast just so I don’t hallucinate from sleep deprivation. For me, the same thing goes through my mind consistently throughout the race: run your own race. I like to put on music and enjoy the hours to myself–a welcome respite from my day-to-day life. I’m also a quantitative person so I spend a lot of time playing time-based math games in my head like calculation of miles per hour, conversions to kilometers per hour, etc. And finally, racing 100 miles means constantly checking in to make sure you’re balancing nutrition, hydration, electrolytes, and caffeine. For someone like me, it’s a fun puzzle that doesn’t come together until the finish line. Oh, and lots of gratitude for the volunteers, organizers, spectators, crew, and pacers who show up to support us. I get emotional over that.

Is NJG part of your training regimen? How do you even begin to train for a 100-mile race?

NJG Breakfast Brownies, granola, bars, and nuts are an important part of my diet, not just for training! Training for any distance is all about starting slow and adding on increments of mileage. Strength training is also very important, especially for women. Proper nutrition and rest are just as critical. NJG is an important part of that because it’s got all the right ingredients to make me feel nourished without making me feel weighed down.

Tell us about your work and your commitments to various nonprofits. Has being an ultramarathoner added to or taken away from these efforts?

I’m an impact investor, which means I look for businesses to invest in that are not only financially attractive but provide meaningful social and environmental benefits. I teach these principles at Stanford Graduate School of Business, alongside my impact investing colleagues, who are the most collaborative, passionate, and sophisticated people you'll meet. They care about so many of the values embodied by NJG–community, sustainability, ethical sourcing, quality products, and livable wages to name a few. Financial empowerment is very important to us and we have a nonprofit providing financial education to low-income communities as well. Being an ultrarunner adds to my entire life. It teaches me to overcome hurdles constantly. So much so that life seems easy (and trust me, it’s not!).

What’s something surprising, or maybe counter-intuitive, that you’ve learned as an entrepreneur and athlete?

I actually had a student point this out to me: that when given two paths, I always choose the harder route. I love the learning that comes from adversity. Parenting has been relatively easy for us because we’ve put in the hard work that comes with coaching, guiding, supporting, and loving them without nannies or other childcare. My husband and I wanted to do it all ourselves so only we were accountable for their behavior. So, when there are bumps, and we need to lean in to help the kids, we all lean in to help each other, and we love the growth that comes from those hard times.

Anything else you want to add? Where can people connect with you?

I’m pretty private, if not embarrassed by attention, but I did create an Instagram profile at @ultrarunnerjax. I’m also on LinkedIn but not very active. To be honest, I encourage people to get off social media and connect IRL. Sign up for a trail race, and I’ll see you there!