Running club chasing fitness, community connection

The benefits of running are well-known. Here in the Valley, the Mat-Su Running Club has been doing its part to get people off their couches and making the most of those benefits.

Launched in 1998 as the Valley Women’s Running Team, the nonprofit group has helped many members reach personal goals while increasing the joy and satisfaction of running, said Janice Habermann, president of the group’s board of directors.

To accommodate a co-ed membership and increased interest in the activity, the group changed its name in 2015 to the current Mat-Su Running Club. The group’s season runs from early April to mid-August, with an option for an extended season that ends in September.

The season includes weekly track workouts with coaches Norm Rousey and Rhonda Knopp on Tuesdays, and evening trail runs on Thursdays. Denali Strabel serves as the club’s extended season coach.

The Club also offers a Junior Group, a six-week structured running program for ages 10-13 that is also coached.

“Through the weekly coached sessions, we believe that members are provided a solid foundation to learn about running and how to sustain their individual workout goals,” she said. “In turn they are able to establish healthy lifestyles for themselves and their families for the week and year.”

Many runners also use their club participation as part of their training for competitive racing, perhaps a marathon, triathlon or destination race in the Lower 48, Habermann said.

“The club's goal is to encourage people to set and meet personal goals and increase the enjoyment and satisfaction of running,” she said. “Others have no firm race goals but use the club as a way to maintain running fitness while making social connections with other like-minded people.”

For the last two years, those missions have been assisted by grants from the Mat-Su Health Foundation. This year, the club received two grants: one in February for $2,500 to help with the expenses of the annual Valley Thaw Out Races, that help raise funds for the club; and another $2,500 in March to underwrite memberships for 21 interested runners who lack the financial resources to participate.

“So many people come to us each year and say they’d love to join or send their kids, but they can’t afford it,” Habermann said. “The Health Foundation is wonderful. They saw value in what we’re doing. They were amazingly helpful and encouraging throughout the whole grant process.”

The nonprofit Mat-Su Health Foundation has been providing this kind of support around the community since its inception in 2007, when it became part owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. In the 18 years of its existence, the Health Foundation has invested more than $138 million of its share of hospital profits in the Valley through scholarships, sponsorships, and grants to nonprofit organizations like the Mat-Su Running Club.

“There is a need for positive, healthy activities for children, teens, and adults in our community and beyond, Habermann said. “We would love to have as many people join as possible.”

FIND OUT MORE

www.matsurunningclub.org