Hall of Fame Ceremony a Family Affair

The induction ceremony for the Minnesota Track and Field Hall of Fame on September first was filled with stories of families and relationships.  As the moderator for the evening and organizer of the event, Tim Zibikowski, noted he was acting like many others in the Minnesota running community, giving back because of all the sport gave him.

Zbikowski, who ran under Armstrong High School coach Rick Kleyman and Gopher coach Roy Griak, who were both in attendance, said that he owed  his mentors for the contributions they made to his life.  Part of what they bequeathed on him was a "pay it forward" philosophy.  Two of the recipients of the Hall of Fame honors--Gopher grad Adam Steele, and Carrie Tollefson--are also giving back to the sport.  They told stories of what the sport has given them and how their siblings inspired them to pursue their athletic careers.

Adam recounted how his older brother Mike became a state champion, which prompted him to tell himself: "I want to do that someday."  He not only wanted to do what his brother did, he wanted to do more.  While Mike gave him a goal "to shoot for," there was also sibling rivalry.  If Mike could win one state championship, why not try and win two, or three.  Adam, who ran for Eden Prairie, proceeded to set the bar even higher for any other Steele siblings by running a leg on the state championship four by 800 relay, as well as individual titles in the 400 and 800.

His accomplishments didn't end there as what he did as a high schooler attracted a suitor--then Minnesota Gopher coach Phil Lundin, who, Steele noted, "called me every week." Then after getting Steele to come to Minnesota, Lundin, also had to convince him to stay.  "I wanted to transfer," Adam said,"but (Lundin) said: 'Give me one more year.'"  Steele gave not only a year, but a national championship(2003 NCAA 400 meters) and a berth on the US team for the World Championships(where he won a gold medal for helping the US win the 4 by 400 relay).

"To represent Minnesota on that stage," Steele said, "to put us on the map internationally" is a legacy Adam was proud to have achieved. He choked up while telling the audience:  "Putting on that uniform(for the US team)" meant a lot, especially as Mike, who was in the audience at the HOF ceremony, wore a uniform as well serving in the military in Iraq. "I'm very proud to be from Minnesota," said Steele, who is currently a police officer in Eugene, Oregon and hasn't given up the sport.  He won two bronze medals(400m/4 by 400 relay) in the World Police and Fire Games in NYC in 2011.

Adam Steele with one of his World Police & Fire Games medals

Carrie Tollefson is still active too, as if raising two kids and running her own media business isn't enough. She is running the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon next weekend.  Tollefson is "paying it forward" by helping keep the sport in the spotlight with her C Tolle Run reports, media work with the NYRR, and other enterprises.  "This sport has changed my life,"  Tollefson said.  With two older sisters, Carrie said, "I could follow in their footsteps."  But merely "following," as for Steele, was not enough.  "The third one in the family has to do something great."

Her two sisters "set the bar high," and they encouraged and pushed her "to do something great."

"Carrie, you're too good to not get after it," they told her, thereby giving her the tag line she uses profusely in her C Tolle Run weekly online webcast: "Get After It!"  Running, she says, "has been the joy of my life."  Much of what she cherishes has come through running, she noted: "I met the love of my life(husband Charlie Peterson) on a run" on the Stone Arch bridge in Minneapolis.  "I got to see what I was made of (during her career as a champion high school,  collegiate, and professional runner)."

Carrie, Ruby, and Charlie

While the athletic accomplishments have been satisfying, Tollefson noted, "the relationships are wonderful."  So much so that Craig Yotter, USATF Minnesota managing director who gave the acceptance speech for the HOF coaching inductee, Scott Christensen, who couldn't make the ceremony because he was with the Stillwater team in Wisconsin, prefaced his talk by noting that daughters of runners have gone out trick or treating "as Carrie Tollefson."  Can an "action figure" Carrie Tollefson be in the works?