Up North: 10th annual Saint Fennessy 4k, more than just another race

This year the Northland celebrated a full decade of running in the Saint Fennessy 4k. A race organized by Grandma’s Marathon for a good cause, serving as a fundraiser for the young athlete’s foundation.

“This is our 10th annual event. It was named after Don Fennessy, who was a long time grab Grandmas Marathon volunteer. He sat on our board of directors and he passed away and we wanted a way to honor him. We wanted a way to get earlier in the calendar year than the Fitgers 5K,” said Grandma’s Marathon public relations director Zach Schneider.

“This coupled with Saint Patrick’s Day and now with our partners at Skyline Social and Games is usually a perfect way to kick off spring. Today it feels more like a perfect way to usher out winter,” Schneider added.

Even with the cold winter temperatures, over 750 participants showed up decked out in their green and orange for the post-race costume contest.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of kids that are out just to get some exercise and work on building a community. It’s great, just put a few layers on, get out and go. Just love supporting a good cause and on a great day,” claimed runners Jessi Linde and Jenny Mikes.

The winners of the race were Charlie Juntunen for the men’s, Sasha Wahman for women and Joshua Herbert for the non-binary race.

However this event was put on mainly for the youth of today and future generations to come.

“These are the races that we want the kids to be involved in because that’s the age group that maybe can’t be involved in a Grandmas Marathon, but one day they might be. So these are the events that kind of instill that in them. The power of being part of the running community and being active and healthy, really setting the stage for the rest of their life,” Schneider concluded.