President’s Letter

DAVE MAREK

Hello runners,

Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed wonderful holidays and are ready for 2018. It’s that time again to reflect on a year newly past and to look forward to a year newly started. As you reflect back on 2017 I hope you all made some great running memories. As you prepare for this year perhaps you have new resolutions or goals that will create more memories whether they be running related or otherwise and I wish you the best in going after them.

I’m not usually one to come up with big resolutions but one I have every year is to try and be the best person I can and to treat others as I would like to be treated. Sounds simple but in this day and age it sometimes seems that not everyone finds it so and frankly there are times when it is challenging. Life is precious, have fun and do good.

As I look back on 2017 from an MDRA perspective I am once again pleased, and proud, of what our organization has accomplished. We have continued to put on great programs and training classes for our members, first class race experiences at a great value and started a Community Giving Grant that was awarded for the first time last May. We continue to have a strong membership, wonderful volunteers, great leadership by our Operations Manager and a hard working board of directors. Our financial situation is solid, yet we are continually looking for ways to improve so we may continue to offer what our members have come to expect and also serve and support the greater running community.

Lots of other good things are happening at MDRA these days including our second year of offering indoor running at US Bank Stadium. Unfortunately, this winter there is a little event called the Super Bowl (perhaps you’ve heard) which has impacted the number of dates we were able to get access. In fact, there are no runs scheduled at the stadium in January and we only have a couple dates in February. We are looking forward to being back next year with a fuller schedule.

If you are looking for a good group to run with I do encourage all of you to check out our Polar Bear runs on Saturday mornings. We have been getting really nice turnouts with plenty of runners of all ages and paces. We’d love to see you out there and you can find out more detailed information on our website and Facebook page.

As you look forward to the upcoming year I hope you have recently received your annual MDRA race calendar. This is one of the very nice perks of being a member and we thank all the races and race directors for providing information to be able to put together this great resource for our runners. Check out your favorite races, map out your plans and track your training. Enjoy!

An important date to remember is coming up quick. Hopefully you have already made plans to join us on Saturday, January 20, for the 2018 edition of the MDRA annual party. We will be kicking off the festivities at 11:00 a.m. with free pizza, soda and ice cream. We will again have a short program where we will be handing out our Grand Prix awards, door prizes and honoring Mark LeDuc with the MDRA Volunteer of the Year award. I am also very proud that we will be giving the Pat Lanin Distinguished Service award to Gabriele Grunewald for her accomplishments on the track and incredible inspiration off it. I hope to see you there as there will be plenty of fun and socializing with your fellow runners and members.

Sandra Dalquist of ROchester competes at the City of lakes 1/2 marathon. Photo courtesy of Wayne Kryduba

I am also hopeful that we will be able to share some exciting news at the party about the formation of the MDRA Foundation. As of this writing not all the details have been finalized so stay tuned.

Happy running everyone! Dave Marek President, MDRA Board of Directors