Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Sunday, April 06, 2008
Charitable thought turns into 30-year tradition
LEWISTON, Minn. — Thirty years ago, an athlete Gary Mills coached asked about having a road race.
Mills, a retired teacher at Lewiston-Altura Ele-mentary School, agreed, but wanted to do it for a cause.
Because there were a lot of people dealing with cancer in the area, Mills decided to start a race dedicated to raising funds for cancer research.
The first race was run on April 1, 1979. It was called the Fool’s Five.
Over the years, the event has raised $1,300,000 for cancer research.
“I look back, I never dreamed it would grow to be this big, and we would raise that much money,” Mills said. “My happiest month is March. The community is so involved and really gets excited for the race.”
That first year, 222 people signed up for the race and the event raised $2,234. Last year, 1,834 people registered and raised $100,500 — both all-time highs.
Between all those 30 years, these seven people have been affiliated with every race: Gary and Marlys Mills, Sandy Nisbit, Luther Ulrich, Larry Schultz, Dave Beck, Carol Koetter and Matt Kingsbury.
In 1985, Kingsbury, who now coaches the Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson cross country team, actually came back from Nebraska to attend the race, which was rescheduled due to a blizzard.
“The race is a vessel for so many people that aren’t here for the competition,” race coordinator Diane Rislow said. “They’re here to celebrate good news or to honor someone that’s passed away or fighting cancer.”
Proceeds from the race are donated to cancer research at the Eagles Cancer Telethon at Mayo Clinic and Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation.
This year’s guest speaker will be women’s masters marathon record holder and cancer survivor Priscilla Welch.
People can register for the race from 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday at Lewiston-Altura High School. The race begins at 1 p.m.
Registration costs $8 for the 8k and $6 for the mile. Kids 12 and younger are $3 for either race.
For more information, go to www.foolsfive.com.
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