[5] In 1984, Ettle finished sixth in the first woman's United States Olympic marathon trials, in 2:33:41, just ahead of Nancy Ditz.
[12] She was the winner of the 1985 Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, when she posted the ninth best time that year in the United States for women: 2:35:47.
In 1986, Ettle ran and won the Alaska 10-K Classic, a race that offered a showdown of many top American runners, including Alberto Salazar and Don Clary, who won for the men and said "if Janice wouldn't have been here, I couldn't have done it."
[13] The next month, on route to a fifth-place finish in the Twin Cities Marathon, just missed getting hit by a car on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota.
[14] The year 1987 saw Ettle compete on the global stage at the 1987 World Marathon Cup, where she finished first for the American women and 14th overall in a time of 2:37:02.
She earned a trip to Havana, Cuba for the 1991 Pan American Games women's marathon on the US team, and she finished fourth in 2:49:22.
The high school sports association named her the 1977 Track and Field Athlete of the Year.