So far "Team Tommie to the Coast" includes, back row, left to right: Phil Anderson, Lisa Burke, Nate Shuff, Mary McGrath and Dan Gjelten. Front row: Melanie Weiss and Kevin Reardon. Also on the team but not pictured are Jed Hastings, and Matt and Deb Kimlinger.
‘Team Tommie to the Coast’ seeks a few brave women
You think the Twin Cities Marathon is a challenge? Try this one on for size.
On Aug. 25 and 26, a hardy crew of St. Thomas faculty, staff and alumni will run from the top of Oregon’s Mount Hood down to the Pacific Ocean in the Fred Meyer Hood to Coast Relay, billed as North America’s biggest relay race. More than 12,000 runners participate in the annual event, now in its 25th year.
The race consists of 36 legs of four to eight miles each, and each runner is required to complete three legs.
The Tommie team was one of 1,000 teams accepted in the entry lottery, but the team is incomplete: it needs two women 30 or older to compete. Because the team is entered in the “mixed submasters” category, it needs an equal number of women and men ages 30 and up.
So far the team consists of: Dan Gjelten, O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library director; Lisa Burke, director of Web initiatives for the College of Business; alumnae (and former UST staffers) Mary McGrath and Melanie Weiss; alumnus Jed Hastings; Phil Anderson of the College of Business faculty; Matt Kimlinger, a grad student in English at St. Thomas, and his wife, Deb; Kevin Reardon of the Facilities Scheduling staff; and Nate Shuff of Information Resources and Technologies.
If you want to join the adventure, contact the team’s captain, Dan Gjelten, (651) 962-5005.
