Running

When Amanda Braun became the director of athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2013, women represented about 1 in every 5 athletic directors in college sports. Today, a decade after she took the helm of Panthers athletics, the ratio is up to about 1 in every 4 athletic directors, according to the NCAA. One…

Tribal youth from across Wisconsin are taking part in the 2023 North American Indigenous Games this week in Nova Scotia, Canada. More than 5,000 Indigenous participants from more than 750 tribal nations are competing in 16 sports throughout the games, which are being held in the ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. An opening ceremony…

At an early age, Kenny Bednarek knew he was an explosive runner. As a middle schooler in Rice Lake, a small town in northwest Wisconsin, he was pitted against high school sprinters and beating many of them on the track. In addition to excelling at the 100-, 200- and 400-meter distances, Bednarek was a star…

Endurance athlete Brad Birkel took a little more than three days in October to run over 200 miles nearly nonstop. More impressive is where he ran it and how. Propelling himself day and night, and barely sleeping, the Middleton ultrarunner covered the entire segment of the North Country National Scenic Trail across the hilly northern…

Participation in Wisconsin high school sports remained below pre-pandemic levels last year, according to newly released figures from an industry group. The National Federation of State High School Associations found nearly 27,000 fewer Wisconsin students played high school sports during the 2021-2022 school year compared to the 2018-2019 school year. A report from the association…

Molly Seidel finished with a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games in only her third career marathon. The American runner from Wisconsin was surprised by the medal after a sweltering run through the streets of Sapporo. She listed Olympic success as a goal when she was a kid. She wrote on a card that her…

A runner with roots in Rice Lake has won a silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Kenny Bednarek finished the men’s 200-meter dash in 19.68 seconds Wednesday, just six hundredths of a second behind gold medal winner Andre De Grasse of Canada. As Bednarek approached the starting block at the Olympic Stadium in…

As an Olympic athlete, Alexi Pappas is no stranger to working hard and chasing your dreams — but hers don’t stop at the Olympics. She’s also a filmmaker, actress and writer. Pappas, a long distance runner who represented Greece in the 2016 Olympics, recently spoke with WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show” about her new book,…

For 211 miles, Annie Weiss ran through roots, rocks, road and gravel along the North Country Trail from the Wisconsin to the Michigan border in early October. After three days, nine hours, 43 minutes and seven seconds — with a new record in tow — she was just happy to be done. Weiss, an ultrarunner…

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a temporary timeout for athletic events in Wisconsin. There’s been a cascade of cancelations for spring marathons and shorter distance races which have left organizers scrambling. Many are offering virtual races instead. This year’s racing season got off to a false start as events around the country were delayed…