Race to 100

If you would have told me 15 years ago, I would be a runner, race director, and president of the local run club, I would have probably laughed at you. After finishing up 5 awesome years at USD, I moved up to Sioux Falls with my now wife Rachael in 2005. I worked 55-60 hours a week and on beautiful days I wanted to get out and enjoy the weather a bit. I also wanted to keep from gaining weight, as I didn’t eat all that great and at the time was doing zero exercise. So, I started heading out on a jog around the neighborhood here and there and that was about it. 

Then one of my good friends asked if I wanted to run a 5k with him. I wasn’t sure how well I could run 3 miles but I said sure! On June 25th 2006, I lined up and ran my first race put on by the Sioux Falls Canaries. I didn’t know what I was doing so I just ran with my friend and ended up finishing 3rd overall (it was a small race). We got into the baseball game for free after the race and they called my name during an inning break and I got a pretty big trophy for my efforts. I was hooked after that! 

I started running more after work and signed up for all the 5k races around town I could find. I found out pretty quickly that I was naturally gifted at running. I’d dabbled in football and basketball in jr. high, but really only played soccer from when I was little through high school. Looking back, I should’ve probably ran cross country, but I’m glad I saved my running for my later years. 

I kept all my race bibs and wrote my time, place, and any other details on the back. After I had a bunch, I figured I better put all that info to work so I created an Excel spreadsheet with all my race statistics. I’ve raced everything from 1 mile to 50k distances, fun runs with the SF Park & Rec and a marathon with 8500 finishers (Twin Cities – my only marathon). I dressed as a woman to win ‘best costume’ for the Irishman and have dedicated a corner of my garage to all my metals, trophies, and bibs. I ran my first trail race at Newton Hills in ’08 and fell in love with the trails. This led me to eventually start the trail series in ’17. 

After 14 years of running, racing, and making the sport a fixture in my life, I hit my 100th race back on October 3rd, 2020, at the Jack 15. I’m already adding to my race total and I’m hopeful that I can keep on running, being a part of this great community where I’ve made so many friends, and tick off another 100 races! Hope you can join me to either start your racing career, or simply add another bib to your holder! 

Best Regards,

Nathan Schwab