The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Latest news

Related Photos

  • Peter McGahey, MSU women’s soccer coach, was among dozens of students and staff that helped the Mavericks defeat St. Cloud State in the first-ever Treadmill-a-Thon. The event lasted 10 hours and organizers hope it will become an annual competition with a traveling trophy. John Cross

    Treadmill-a-Thon

April 27, 2011

MSU wins Treadmill-a-Thon with St. Cloud State

By Tanner Kent The Free Press

MANKATO — A million small steps on a treadmill. One giant leap for campus recreation.

In the first-ever Treadmill-a-Thon against rival St. Cloud State, Minnesota State University has won the arms race — er, foot race in this case. MSU came in with 83.76 miles, and the Huskies had 81.62.

“I’m very happy,” said Jen Myers, fitness and wellness coordinator for MSU’s campus recreation department and organizer of the event. “We were all in this together.”

During the 10-hour treadmill extravaganza, dozens of MSU students and staff hopped on a single treadmill in the Otto Recreation Center to leg out as many miles as they could, as fast as they could.

MSU women’s soccer coach Peter McGahey was among the first runners when the event kicked off at 8 a.m., finishing with slightly less than six miles.

Jen Blue, women’s track and cross country coach as well as the women’s division winner of the inaugural Mankato Marathon, peeled off two miles — even though she told organizers she had already run that day.

When no volunteer runners were available, interns in the campus recreation department were kept on stand-by to fill in as needed. Nick Jamnick, an ex-cross country runner from Becker, was the leader in the clubhouse with 71 total minutes on the treadmill (about 11 miles).

But not all participants were hardcore runners.

Mark Lyder, a first-year student from Chaska, has a soccer background but was enticed to participate for reasons other than exercise.

“I have buddies at St. Cloud State,” he said.

Myers said the idea for a treadmill competition came to her at a conference last year. SCSU, she said, was a natural choice for an opponent.

“We have a working relationship,” said Myers, partly kidding about the long-standing athletic rivalries between the two schools. “We boo them for everything else.”

Jokes aside, Myers said the event was a partnership between herself and her SCSU counterpart to get students involved in “non-traditional competitive activities.”

Myers said she is always on the lookout for different ways to get students involved in recreation and exercise: “The weightlifters come in and do their thing. The basketball players come in and do their thing. But the runners didn’t really have anything.”

Myers said she hopes the Treadmill-a-Thon becomes an annual event, complete with a traveling trophy and boasting rights.

But until then, she said she’s just happy to see students running.

“Even if you don’t believe in your abilities, come and try” she said. “Maybe you’ll prove to yourself that you are more than you think you are.”

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Latest news