AW • HEALTH Writer: Cammie Wright | SKYLOFT PHOTOGRAPHY
THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THE MILES
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Local Fargo Marathon Participants Find Different Reasons for Running
here’s a funny thing about running races. Although everyone takes off from the same starting point, and all aim to cross the same finish line, the path they take to the line up is always unique, always different than the bib-clad runner stretching next to them. Although they are all running the same 3.1, 6.2, 13.1 or 26.2 miles, the motivations behind the miles are truly unique. And for many runners, contrary to the semantics of the word, the race is hardly about winning. Such is the case for five local women who run in the Fargo Marathon and find motivation, laughter, peace, friendship and solace in the sport. We asked them about the stories behind their passion for running and what motivates them to keep putting miles behind them. Michelle Donarksi, attorney, 44 years old: “I started running because I have friends in a group, Women High On Running (WHORS). We would dress in pink, wear feather boas and crazy wild wigs when we went to different races. It was a blast. So for me, running is social. I don’t run by myself, I go with a group of girls and we run, talk and solve the world’s problems.” Sue Knutson, buyer, Minnesota State University Moorhead, 45 years old: “When I was younger, I hated running. When I was in sixth grade, we had to run the 600 yard dash – and I literally faked fainting so I wouldn’t have to run it.” Knutson’s story jumps to high school, when she found herself in the shadow of her older, super-athletic sister Renee. Both were in track, but only one of them enjoyed it. One night, Renee took her younger sister out for a run, but before long, snow began to fall and Sue decided she’d had enough. Renee kept yelling at her to keep running, from left to right: LeIa Bohl, Jamie Traynor, Michelle Keil, Sue Knutson, and Michelle Donarksi
but Sue complained and whined until Renee was fed up enough to run to the car to come pick her up. By the time Renee returned with the Green Torino, Sue was so angry that she decided to run back to the school herself. “So she followed me the whole way back to the school, yelling at me because I was too stubborn to get in the car,” Sue said.
Sue’s sister Renee passed away at 38 years old. “Because she was so competitive and so athletic, I just really looked up to her. So part of the reason I started running was her pushing me because I remember that snowy day when she was out there yelling at me to keep running. And so when I started doing this, I could hear her in the back of my head saying ‘keep running, just keep running.’”
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