In accordance with the Capital Striders Club by-laws, we officially announce the 2021 Board of Directors election. As the status of an in-person 2021 Annual Meeting is not yet known, voting for this years election will be by electronic ballot on April 16-18. You must be a current Capital Strider’s member to vote and your membership number will be required.
There are three open positions on the Board of Directors - and we offer up our sincere appreciation to Dana Kramer, Kristy Cain and Kristin Adkins for their service to the club as they leave their official roles on the Board.
We also have two current Board members (Steve Bobenhouse and Susanne Kennedy) who are up for re-election.
This year we have three candidates running to fill the three open Board positions. We asked them to answer a few questions to help you learn a little about each of them. (Candidates are listed in no particular order.) Here are their answers:
BRUCE HUCKFELDT
1. How have you been involved with the Capital Striders in the past? Officially, I haven’t done much because I joined shortly before the COVID-19 madness. I have competed in a handful of races that are under the Capital Striders umbrella. I also did the November 100 miles two years ago. I would like to volunteer for a lot more future events when I am not running.
2. What area(s) of the club most interest you as a Board Member? Some of the examples are: membership, scholarship, equipment, club races, newsletter/social media, merchandise, social functions, bookkeeping/financials, volunteer coordination, training runs, etc… This window is wide open. I am a team player and always looking forward to helping any way I can. I have minimal to no experience in the field because I didn’t run or race in high school or college and have never put on any races. I would love to help in setting up and planning future races, I think that would be a lot of fun. I already do some social media work for my job and a lot of social media work for the charity events and fundraisers I do so I could definitely help in that field as well. I also recently took "Introduction to Non-Profit Management" online class recently so I could learn more about it. It was awesome for you to reach out to me! It was fate!
3. What special skills would you bring to the Board? I have 20+ years in the service industry field so my customer service skills are top notch. I always strive to be the best in whatever I do. Just last week, I was announced the best bartender in Des Moines for the second year in a row. I work hard and am always focused on big goals! In the last 5 years, I’ve created events and fundraisers that have raised over $10,000.00. In my entire adult life, I've never called into work or arrived late. My punctuality is extremely important, so if I say I'll be there - I'll be there.
4. Tell us about yourself - work, family, running experience, civic activities - anything you would like people to know. I've been with my wife Kaylee for coming up on 13 years. We have two fantastic children - Vienna (9) and Hudson (4) and have lived in Waukee for almost 10 years. We are building our forever home right now and hoping to move in the middle of May or early June. Up until Covid, I was trying to compete in any event possible. From 1-mile to Ultramarathon, triathlon, Obstacle Course Racing. I hope to reach my 100th event this year, but with so few events planned, I don't know if I'll quite make it there. I first started running about 10 years ago when some friends asked me to join them for the Race for the Cure (on about 24 hours notice) and I ended up beating everyone I went with. I realized that if I did some training, I might actually be okay. Now I'm 40 and have 7 first place finishes under my belt out of 80 events along with 22 top 3 finishes. Considering I never ran until my 30s, I'm happy with it and LOVE to get out there and compete. In November of 2018, I did a charity event where I ran every city street front to back in Waukee while carrying an American Flag to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. It was over 200 miles and I finished it on day 28. I've done some other small events, but am currently doing a shoe drive to benefit the Dallas County Closet and Waukee Community Schools and a fundraiser to support Mission 22. I will be running the #4x4x48 (4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours) in March - It was a challenge thrown out by legend David Goggins. Once that event is completed, I've set a goal to run 1 mile in every city in Iowa. Thats over 900 cities! I've been a bartender for almost 13 years so working at night allows me to train during the day when I'm not spending time with my family.
5. If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be, and why? I would be Rocky Road. The long road to adventure is kind of how I love my life. I’m always training for something from a mile to ultra, triathlon to OCR, a pull-up contest to kayaking!
6. What is your favorite post race food, and why? For many years, my family and I go to the Iowa Machine Shed after any race. I always start with a massive veggie filled omelette and 3 or 4 Pepsi’s to get my body back to new! Of course, on a hot Summer day, I love an ice cold beer too.
7. If you could go for a run with anyone (dead or alive) who would you choose? Camille Herron. She’s an ultra runner who goes out there and crushes everyone - including the men. During her ultras, she eats tacos and drinks beer. As a longtime bartender and a diehard taco fanatic, I couldn’t find a better role model if I tried.
LINDSEY ANDREWS
1. How have you been involved with the Capital Striders in the past? As the co-owner of Heartland Soles Running & Walking Stores, I have had the privilege of being involved with the Striders for almost 5 years! Through the store’s sponsorship of the club, I’ve had opportunities to host group runs and packet pickups, be involved with races, and have been involved personally with club events and runs.
2. What area(s) of the club most interest you as a Board Member? The areas of the club that would most interest me as a part of the Board would be the scholarship, club races, training runs, and social functions. I work with tons of high school students all year long through the store, so I think I would bring a new perspective into the scholarship discussions. I also have a lot of experience with putting on races, training runs, and social functions but would love to have the opportunity to learn from others on the Board and maybe bring a few ideas of my own in too!
3. What special skills would you bring to the Board? I have years of experience in planning races and have worked as the head race director for multiple races. I also have a great deal of experience in planning group runs and social events for runners, sometimes events that are a mix of both! I am a full-time mother, a full-time business owner in run specialty, and a collegiate XCTF coach, so I think I’ll bring a unique perspective that can be relatable to many different members of the Striders!
4. Tell us about yourself - work, family, running experience, civic activities - anything you would like people to know. I have owned Heartland Soles Running & Walking Stores for almost 5 years, and prior to that worked in locally owned run specialty shops in other areas of the country! I love running shoe technology and working with runners and walkers of all kinds to help them reach their goals and potential! I myself have a great deal of experience as a runner. I began running at age 11 and ran throughout high school and college. I was a 6-time All-American in distance events and was a member of the 2015 NCAA Div I National Champion Cross Country team for the New Mexico Lobos. I have continued to train throughout my post-collegiate years and am getting back into elite-level racing this year! I am married to my best friend, Jordan, who was my high school sweetheart. In fact, we met on our high school cross country team and ran together in college. We have two beautiful children together, Layla Jo (3) and Kauffman (2). One of my favorite memories of our family is Jordan pushing them in the double stroller at the 2019 Capital Pursuit, then Layla running in the kids race after with the biggest smile on her face! Jordan and I get to coach Cross Country and Track & Field at Grand View University together which is incredibly fun, challenging, and rewarding. I also have a side business called Swift Splits, a private online coaching service for runners of all ages and abilities! When we aren’t with our Grand View team, Jordan often bikes pulling our kiddos while I run, which is such a neat time for all four of us to spend together! Jordan and I love owning the stores and find it a privilege to work closely with runners of all kinds throughout Iowa in many different capacities! I pretty much live, eat, and breathe running, so I think it would be a huge honor to get to be a part of the Capital Striders Board of Directors!
5. If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be, and why? If I were an ice cream flavor, I think I would be cookies and cream! The base is vanilla, a classic flavor, but it has delicious Oreos mixed in. I think I am a traditional person like vanilla ice cream, but have fun little unique qualities swirled in!
6. What is your favorite post race food, and why? If you’re talking about immediately after a race, I like some nice cold chocolate milk! I don’t normally like to eat much “real” food for a little while after a race. But as far as post-race food goes, an hour or two after a big race my favorite thing to eat is a big, juicy cheeseburger with all the fixin’s!
7. If you could go for a run with anyone (dead or alive) who would you choose? I have always been very inspired by Shalane Flanagan. I actually had a giant poster of her in my apartment in college! I just love her perspective on life and running, her holistic training approach, and, well, she is SO FAST! My best friend Courtney runs for the Nike Bowerman Track Club, so Shalane is one of her coaches and a mentor/friend to her, and I go totally fan girl every time she mentions working with her - haha! I hope to go visit Courtney in the next year or two and hope I’ll get the chance to meet (and run with?!) Shalane!
MIKE TIEDENS
1. How have you been involved with the Capital Striders in the past? Actually very little, but I'm looking to grow. I've been a member for a few years and I've run a few events put on by the club (Capital Pursuit and Loop the Lake). But I've run a lot of other races in central Iowa and I'm looking to contribute more.
2. What area(s) of the club most interest you as a Board Member? I get very excited about youth running and providing opportunities for kids and teens. So I suppose scholarship and equipment would fall into that passion. But for the most part, I'm wide open and I'd love to learn about all of the areas and help out where needed.
3. What special skills would you bring to the Board? In my professional life, I work with purchasing and contracts, but I don't know how beneficial that would be to the Board. But I'm organized, communicate well and I have time to dedicate to the Board.
4. Tell us about yourself - work, family, running experience, civic activities - anything you would like people to know. I work for DART and I've been employed there for almost 8 years. I'm married with 2 adult children and we live downtown. I'm originally from Central Iowa and have lived here for most of my life. I've been running all my life, but really I've only consistently been doing it for about the last 10 years. My running experience consists of mostly half marathons, but I've run 5k's, 10k's, marathon, and even an obstacle race. I used to live in Beaverdale and I served on the neighborhood association board there in various roles (Treasure, VP, President).
5. If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be, and why? Ben & Jerrys has a flavor called Milk & Cookies, which to me says calm, boring and steady. That describes my work style as well as my running pace.
6. What is your favorite post race food, and why? Definitely pizza and a cold beer.
7. If you could go for a run with anyone (dead or alive) who would you choose? Steve Prefontaine, but I'm sure he would leave me looking at the bottom of his shoes.