After a week’s worth of deliberation by our panel of Judges, we’ve narrowed the field of potential columnists down to five. These 5 writers will compete for your votes over the next couple of weeks to see who will be our newest DigitalRunning.com Columnist! The winner will receive their very own bi-weekly column and one year of running coaching from Coach Brian.

The first round of competition will begin next week, but first…

Meet the five finalists!

Jenny

Jenny is an awesomely average runner originally from the great snowy state of Minnesota, but now residing in the nation’s overheated capital. She currently works as a policy analyst for a ridiculously large lobbying firm, but moonlights as a marathoner-in-training.

After one too many college parties, Jenny decided it was time to participate in a sport outside of beer pong. As an ex-basketball player and track and field member running seemed like a natural fit. On her first run she could barely go two blocks, but two years later she’s in the middle of training for her first marathon – the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30, 2011.

Jenny likes her Asics, the color green, thrift stores, and creating horribly embarrassing running playlists. She dislikes bad coffee, spiders, and the DC metro system. She plans to one day challenge Kara Goucher at the Boston Marathon with her wicked fast 10 minute miles. Better watch your back, Kara!

Matty

Matty was brought up in southern Indiana by two stunning parents, Mark and Katy. His developmental years were spent with his “spirited” brothers, Mikey and Johnny B.H., exploring the neighborhood on foot, by bike and through creeks all the while accompanied by their trusty golden retriever companions, Bo and Bear.

After completing 12 years and a college education in Bloomington, Indiana, a fully-grown Matty moved to Houston, Texas, to join a movement of educators working to eliminate the achievement gap where he simultaneously fell in love with running and his future wife, Sara.

Megan

Megan is a fitness enthusiast, who has learned to love running. Although she has endured a few injuries, she ran her first 10K in May and is now training for a half-marathon in September. She also enjoys spin class with her husband and makes sure to include strength training into her exercise routine. With dreams of racing in Disney, she is excited to see where her running journey will take her!

Megan is also a technology geek, keeping up on the latest gadgets, gizmos and toys. She blogs at runningtowardtheprize and spends plenty of time on Twitter and Facebook. She loves seeing how social media helps her running journey. Megan also has a love of all things Disney, which explains why she became a Disney Travel Agent! Running + Disney = a perfect vacation!

Rebecca

Rebecca, can be found at Thru Thin and Thick. If she’s not there, she’s probably on Twitter or poring over the ACE CPT manual.

Rebecca is not a natural born runner, and has not been doing it forever. She started running 5 years ago, when an acquaintance suggested doing the Detroit Free Press Marathon together. She naively agreed and ended up injured and burnt-out without a finishers medal! After several bouts of injuries, she became serious about running injury-free and preventing burn-out. Last January she started slowly with the C25K and ran her first half-marathon this past February.

Wanting to take her passion for running further, she co-coached her first beginner 5K running group this past spring and will be coaching her own group this fall. Rebecca believes that anyone can be a runner; you just have to commit to the idea that you are one and not let yourself be boxed in by what you think a runner should be!

Tracy

Tracy is a certified personal trainer with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She’s employed by a major fitness footwear retailer as a Regional Product and Sales Trainer. By working in what she considers to be “as close to a dream job as you can get,” Tracy gets to travel the east coast while educating her co-workers and potential clients on the benefits of embracing a healthy lifestyle.

Together with her beloved husband and three children, the family shares a love of animals and the outdoors. They manage an equine rescue farm and enjoy running together. Since deciding to run competitively last year, Tracy has completed a myriad of races, including three half marathons and one full marathon.

Check back Tuesday when these five writers will tell us about their most bizarre running experiences! Then, VOTE for your favorites and help them on the road to becoming digitalrunning.com’s next running columnist.