NYRR Mindful 5k: Runner overcomes homelessness, addiction to starting Janie’s Life-Changing Baked Goods in NYC [Video]

UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) — The New York Road Runners Mindful 5K is this Saturday, and for one of the participants, the feeling will be all too sweet from the long road she’s traveled up to this point.

Janie Deegan, 36, will be running in the event after having overcome some very dark times before ultimately becoming a successful business owner.

“I got sober at 25,” said Deegan. “And from age 24 to 25, I was homeless and penniless. I had no home, no ID. I didn’t have a bank account.”

Deegan turned to baking and running to get her life on track and heal herself mentally.

“When I got sober, I could not run,” she said. “I was so unhealthy and couldn’t run. I was smoking one million cigarettes a day, drinking coffee and so skinny. But baking for me was this meditative act of self-care.”

Deegan took her new positive mindset and put every dollar she made into investing in …