SPOTLIGHT RUNNERS

MElissa is a runner! (ECM May Virtual Runner)

“I have never been an athlete. I can barely chew gum and walk at the same time. I have a very hard time calling myself a runner. I am just a person that can put one foot in front of the other for an extended period of time.

Running, for me, is my quiet time. I am lucky to have four kids all under 10 years old and alone time is a rarity. I ran my first half marathon in 2016 in Green Bay and never had running 26.2 on my bucket list. That was for runners and crazy people. Because training is such a time commitment, and our lives are so busy, my husband and I traded off years to train and run. I tried to run another half in 2018, but wasn't able to complete the training. I started training for my second half marathon this spring with high hopes for being able to make it to race day. Training was going great and then Covid-19 stopped the world. Despite all the challenges and the race going virtual, the Eau Claire Virtual half was amazing! The best part was running through the finish line with my kids holding the tape for me to run though. I am so proud that they could see their mom work hard toward a goal and see it through! 

One of the hidden positives of life in the midst of a pandemic is that my family gained a lot of time. We weren't living the life of two working parents running busy kids from one activity to another when the work day was done. I rested for a couple weeks after the spring half and made the decision to be one of those crazy people and to start training for a FULL MARATHON! Eeek! I would have never had the time to do the training if we had all of our normal activities going on. I am looking forward to the challenge of training in the summer heat and am hopeful that I may actually be able to do the distance on race day. Since the announcement that the fall will also be virtual, I have enlisted some of my favorite people to run parts of the distance with me on race day to keep me going. I can't wait to get to the finish line and run through the tape held by my kids when I finish the 26.2. Maybe then I'll start calling myself a runner, who knows, after that maybe I'll try to chew gum and walk at the same time.” YOU R A RUNNER!!

GRADUATION MARATHON TRIFECTA CARLY!

What a story!!!!! Way to go Carly! Here is her virtual ECM story: 

“I ran my first marathon the week before I graduated from high school in 2012. I then ran my second marathon the week before I graduated from college with my bachelor's degree in 2016. I had originally signed up to run the ECM in-person race in May because it aligned perfectly with running my third marathon the week before I was to graduate with my doctorate degree. 

When 2020 decided to change all of our plans, I wasn't sure if I would be able to run a whole marathon alone without the crowd support, the adrenaline that comes with the big race day, and being surrounded by other runners. But I decided to push myself to try the virtual ECM. Was it really hard? Heck yes. Did I set a new PR? Definitely not. But I did it and I have to say I'm really proud of myself.

Don't ask me when or why I decided to do marathon training during some of my busiest academic semesters - but for some reason, celebrating the completion of two significant and challenging life goals at once just stuck. 

Thank you to Eau Claire Marathon for offering a virtual race option so that I could still make my goal of a graduation-marathon trifecta a reality.”

Carly, Your welcome!!

MEET THE KARLS FAMILY

Andrew Karls (16) took 2nd place overall in the fEAUrth of July 5K. Julia Karls won the fEAUrth of July Women's 5K on her 19th Birthday.  Ryan Karls (11) was 4th overall.  With dad, Wes Karls coming in 5th overall.  

We reached out to Wes to ask him about the weekend and here is what he said:

“Indeed we did have a great albeit different 4th of July this year.  The fEAUrth of July 5k was something that was the right answer for our family that like others had their traditions altered this year due to the Pandemic.  We do have a few photos attached that we took before and after our run from our home on Saturday Morning.  With no fans out along the route and our neighbors either gone for the weekend or still sleeping, the only pictures we have from the actual race I have pulled from our RING cameras.  (Please know that I did mark out the course with chalk arrows prior to the run to help with finding the way and promoting safe crossings of a couple busier roads in the area.)

There is a bit more to our story and I will try to keep it as short as possible.

Our oldest of 4 children Julia was born on the 4th of July in 2001 and every year we celebrate with festive decorations, outfits, attending parades, making food, and attending the fireworks to end the evening.  Each has its own twist and 2 years ago began to run in a local 5k around Grand Lake to begin our Celebration.  

Last year was bittersweet as Julia turned 18 and now was heading off to college in Eau Claire.  Yes, I knew that she would not stay young forever and had to give her away someday.  I simply envisioned that moment being at her wedding, not when she left for college on August 25th to run with the Blugolds Cross Country Team.  I was good with the goodbyes and assured myself that as a Father I gave the best I could to send her off into the new journey in Eau Claire.  When I learned of the Eau Claire Marathon to be held on May 3, 2020, I knew I had a way to deal with the void her spirit left our family and allow me to focus on a project to pass the time until she returns home.  My goal has been to run one marathon for each of my children and give each of them a medal when I complete them as a reminder that hard work is something that will always be with you and how you work will be noticed by others.  Make your work matter and make it worth it.  Having completed two marathons already, this one in Eau Claire was going to be the perfect way to commemorate Julia's 1st year in college.  On January 13th, Julia left home to return to Eau Claire, I went to work on a 16 week training plan that would ultimately be placed on pause on March 13th due to COVID-19 and my role with CentraCare.  

When the fEAUrth of July 5k was announced on 5/21, I sent the email over to the family and said we should do this and we all absolutely loved the Red White and Blue race swag It truly ties in everything so perfectly for us.

Now with a new date for the Marathon scheduled for September 27th, the new begin again training date started for me on June 8th.  Knowing that there is a strong possibility that this may turn into a Virtual Marathon, we are planning on ways to still run the Marathon in Eau Claire.  

Thank you for reaching out and seeing that our family worked/enjoyed the virtual fEAUrth of July 5k.  

PS- Our youngest Daughter Brielle who is almost 9 did not participate in this years race.  She has expressed interest in running although softball and cheering for us really seems to be her passion.”