President’s Letter

DAVE MAREK

Hello runners,

I am writing this letter as my next birthday is approaching just days away. Yet another year for me and a sign that another year for us at MDRA is quickly coming to a close.

We have just closed the book on our big fall races – the Victory 5K/10K and the Jeff Winter Memorial City of Lakes Half Marathon. I don’t think I would be exaggerating to say that we may have never been blessed with two better weather days than we were this year. We had big numbers of runners for both races including a sellout for City of Lakes! Thank you to all who participated and continue to support the MDRA.

I also want to thank our wonderful volunteers without whom we could never make these races happen. Special shout outs to the Washington Technology Magnet team and the Richfield Holy Angels team for working water stops. Thank you’s as well to the Hamline Track and Cross Country team, Northstar Running and the MDRA marathon training groups for their continued support and help. We appreciate your enthusiasm to volunteer more than you know.

We all know time flies and it is hard to believe that I am nearing the end of my term as President. I have one more letter to write after this but I have started to reflect back over the past three years. I will have more to say next time but I want to single out one thing now.

The start of my term as President coincided with the “retirement” of the long time operations manager of the MDRA, Heidi Miler. Heidi had an incredible 25 year run and to say I was nervous about what was going to happen with her gone is an understatement. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been. As many of you are well aware we hired Sarah McInerney to be our new operations manager. I know it was more than a bit overwhelming at the start but three years later I can’t imagine a better choice to run this craziness. In my opinion Sarah has brought our organization to a new level and we are stronger than ever. There are a million things going on behind the scenes that can be very difficult to manage at times. It is a testament to Sarah that everyone on the board quickly recognized her talent and put their trust in her to steer this ship. So I want to take this opportunity to personally say thank you to Sarah for everything she has done for the MDRA.

Hopefully you are reading this right before the Twin Cities Marathon weekend. Always a big event on the Minnesota running schedule and even if you aren’t running you can stop by the expo and say hi, renew your membership or become a new member at our booth. We always love meeting members and talk running. If you aren’t racing, hopefully you can make it out to cheer on the runners and look out for the MDRA shirts. We will have another great group of marathoners on the course and they love the encouragement along the way. I encourage all you who haven’t trained with one of our groups to give it try sometime. You won’t regret it.

As the fall racing calendar is coming to an end I hope you have all had a good year of running and racing. We have had another great year of MDRA races and programs and we are already planning for next year and how we can become even better. We welcome your input and feedback on any issues so drop us an email. Our goal is to strive to be a great resource for the running community.

Gwendolyn Freed of Minneapolis races toward the finish at the MDRA Victory day races on labor day. Photo by Wayne Kryduba

Now please enjoy the rest of this edition of RunMinnesota and we’ll see you out there!

Happy running, Dave Marek President, MDRA Board of Directors

CONTRIBUTORS

TIM PRATT

TIM Pratt ran track and cross country in high school, and then took a hiatus. He began running again just before his 40th birthday. So far, he has completed six marathons, seven half marathons, eight triathlons and numerous other races. He’s a proud MDRA member and loves the supportive atmosphere of the training classes and races.

MOLLY MOENING

Molly Moening is a freshman at St. Paul Highland Park High School where she has been running on the cross country team for the past two years. She is a five-time All State athlete in Track, Nordic Skiing and Cross Country. She loves being outdoors and spending time with her family and dog.

SHEILA MULROONEY ELDRED

SHEILA Mulrooney Eldred said that most of her friends are runners (she even married one of them) and she still gets together with five members of her college cross country team, more than 20 years later). She’s written for The New York Times, the Washington Post, Nature, STAT News, FiveThirtyEight and, of course, Runner’s World.

PATRICK O’REGAN

Patrick O’Regan is a runner and freelance business writer. He is a graduate of St. Thomas College and the University of Minnesota. Born and raised in Montgomery, Minnesota, Pat currently resides in Inver Grove Heights. He runs eight to 10 races a year, mostly 5Ks and 10Ks, with two marathons to his credit. He has also “competed” in three National Championships.

BOB KOVELL

BOB Kovell is a member of the Saint Cloud River Runners. Currently a Senior Grand Master runner, he has completed a marathon in all 50 states.

Editor:

Sarah Ahlers McInerney

Senior Editor:

Gloria Jansen

Art Director:

Chad Richardson

Advertising Coordinator/Sales:

Sarah Ahlers McInerney

Photographer:

Wayne Kryduba

Results:

Jack Moran

MDRA Officers:

Dave Marek, President Randy Fulton, Vice President Jenny Harrington, Secretary Steve Hennessy, Treasurer

MDRA Board Members:

Rochelle Christensen, Kathy Larsen, Rick Recker, Sarah Stangl, Wendy Jones, Kelly May, Dennis Barker, David Daubert, Damon Rothstein

Contact RunMinnesota!

RunMinnesota P.O. Box 6419 Minneapolis, MN 55406-0419 runminnesota@gmail.com

RunMinnesota magazine is published four times a year and is produced by the Minnesota Distance Running Association. RunMinnesota is available through a member subscription or at select retail locations. To get RunMinnesota mailed to you, join online at runmdra.org.