40 PEOPLE FROM HERMANN PARTICIPATE IN THE GO! ST. LOUIS FAMILY FITNESS WEEKEND

The Go! St. Louis Family Fitness Weekend was held April 10&11 in downtown St. Louis and 40 people from the Hermann area, ages 5-63, lined up at the start line of the various running events that were held thoughout the weekend.
24 runners with the Renaissance Center's Marathon Training Program participated in the weekend's events.  They began training in October, receiving personalized training programs and organizing weekly group runs.  Jan - March they travelled to various runs in the St. Louis and Columbia area for racing experience.  Sixteen of the runners with the training program were participating in their 1st endurance distance event.
Michelle Montague and Michelle Ruediger ran the 26.2 mile full marathon.  Seventeen runners completed the 13.1 half marathon including Joann Cramer, Traci Heldt, Joann Kirchhofer, Candy Krull, Kathy Kuester, Ron Kuvik, Tanya Monnig, Louis Montague, Marilyn Overkamp, Charlene Penn, Debra River, Mary Beth Strassner, Sharon Warner, Janet Weber, Becky Wright, Susan Nelson, and Jill Winkelmann.  The Brandt family of Glenn, Carol, Michael, & Gregory ran the 26.2 mile marathon relay in 4/ 6-7 mile legs and Janice Houska ran the relay with several of her family members.
Several other families from Hermann with young children made a full weekend out of it by participating in various events.  Trent & Parker Anderson, Avery & Brady Sherrow, and Taylor & Ryan Stutzmann ran the kid's 1 mile fun run while their parents - Todd & Miranda Anderson, Chip Stutzmann, & Kent Sherrow rant the marathon relay as Team Deutsch Joggers placing a very respectable 10th place in their division.  Shelly Stutzmann ran the 5k race on Saturday and Angie Sherrow ran the half marathon placing 5th in her division.  Kendra Brune & Tammy Rood also ran their 1st half marathons and Phil Landolt ran the half in an impressive 1 hr 34 min.  Quite impressively, 10 of the 40 runners are current of former school teachers in the Hermann area, serving as amzing role models to the students in the community.  Congratulations to all the runners for all of their hardwork and for successfullly meeting their goals.  Next year we'll aim for 50 runners on the start line!

FAVORITE ENDURANCE BOOKS
Swimming to Anartica by Lynne Cox - I conjure up Lynne and her amazing swim feats everytime I need a little inspiration in the water (and that's often).
Slow Fat Triathlete and Shape Up With The Slow Fat Triathlete by Jayne Williams - author of my favorite motto, "Living our athletic dreams, in the bodies we have now."  Jayne is a true soul sister of the Endurance Team.
Ultra Marathon Man and 50/50 by Dean Karnazes - I love that people think what we do as a hobby is extraordinary, and then there are people like Dean to keep us humble.