Approximately 3,500 runners and walkers will hit the pavement early Saturday morning for the 32nd running of the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in downtown Indy. Among the sea of people, there will be two local women, Dee Fowler and Chris Wilson.

   Fowler is a veteran of the event by now. This is her 20th year of participation. Wilson is a rookie, but said she is prepared and anxiously awaits all the hoopla surrounding the popular 13.1 mile race known all over the world.

   Fowler and Wilson are cousins who have a lot in common. Both were gymnasts and cheerleaders, graduating from Pendleton Heights. Both are now educators. They each have a son and a daughter. They both walk and jog to stay fit. Surprisingly, they only recently discovered that they both will run in this year's Mini.

   Fowler said she registered for the race in November, much later than usual. "I wasn't going to do it this year because I've been busy planning my daughter's wedding," she said. But, when her daughter called and announced that she was running in the Mini and wanted her mom to do it with her, Fowler conceded and signed up.

   "Now, she's decided not to do it after all," laughed Fowler, explaining that her daughter realized she had less time to train as the date of the wedding grew closer.

   Long before Fowler ran in her first Mini, she said her husband, Ken, participated in the event and she usually went along to cheer him on. "Then, one year I said, ‘Hey, I can do this,'" she recalled.

   She said she probably didn't train like she should have in the early years, but she takes it more seriously as a seasoned veteran. "If you're going to run at all, you'd better train," she said.

   She generally starts training in early January, jogging six days a week in all types of weather and she keeps a daily log of how far she goes.

   The day before the Mini, Fowler always eats lots of carbs (pasta or pizza). She begins taking in extra fluids a few days prior, and makes a point to stay hydrated during the race. "I've seen people go down in mile twelve or thirteen, just because they didn't stay hydrated," she said.

   Wilson signed up for her rookie run well before the registration deadline. She said her husband, Jack, has encouraged her in her daily fitness walking for many years. As a health and fitness buff, he’s run in several marathons over the years, and she used to go along to watch.

   Now, she walks about four miles a day, and said on weekends, she’ll jogged up to eight miles. Glancing at Fowler, she whispered, "I haven't done any tens, though."

   "You'll be alright," Fowler reassured.

   Wilson's husband coached her to grab water at the water stops and listen to her body. When muscles start cramping up, he said she should walk instead of ignoring the pain.

   "I'm kind of competitive, and he’s a little worried about this being my first year,” Wilson said. “He keeps telling me how easy it is to get caught up in all the excitement and adrenaline. And, I keep reminding him that my only goal is to finish and be able to say, ‘I did it.’”

   Saturday's event begins at 7:30 a.m., and both ladies plan to be downtown plenty early to find a parking place and make their way to their assigned starting corrals. From experience, Fowler learned it works out better to park close to the end of the route near Military Park.