MOORHEAD – Anne Blackhurst, who became president of Minnesota State University Moorhead on July 1, ran her first marathon in 2010 to honor her 50th birthday.
At the time, she was vice president for academic and student affairs at Minnesota State Mankato, and it was also the first marathon held in Mankato.
Although she thought it would be her one and only, “once I did one, I just had to do another one,” she said. “It’s just part of my nature. As soon as I was done, I thought to myself, ‘I could do it faster.’ ”
And she could. In her seven marathons since, she has cut her 4 hours, 32 minutes down to just under 4 hours, a time that qualified her for April’s Boston Marathon.
On Sept. 24, Blackhurst will combine her side hobby with her new job by running 50 laps, or 12.5 miles, around the MSUM Nemzek Fieldhouse to raise money for a new set of merit-based scholarships. Pledges for each lap she runs at “Laps for the Long Run” will go toward the scholarships, which could be offered as early as fall 2015.
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To kick off the campaign, Blackhurst made a personal donation of $1,000 per lap, or $50,000 total, and is confident much more will come.
“I’m hopeful that it will be the most successful fundraising event in the history of the university,” she said Wednesday. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if, even next week, there was an announcement of a very substantial lead gift.”
Blackhurst’s goal is to put MSUM on the map for high-achieving high school students – through Presidential Merit Scholarships that will offer as close to full tuition as possible.
“I think certainly we need scholarships that address student need,” she said, “but it’s also important to reward outstanding student performance, and that’s something I would like to explicitly support.”
While 12.5 miles doesn’t sound like much for a runner who ran 17 miles just this past weekend, there will be a two-hour time limit.
“It can’t be leisurely,” she said. “I have to run about a nine-minute mile … I can’t be lollygagging around.”
There’s also more riding on this event.
“In a marathon, if I stop and walk, or I don’t make the time, that’s just about me,” she said. “This is about something much bigger than me. … I will make sure I finish those 50 laps.”
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The event starts at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 24, and will be followed by a glow-in-the-dark 5K event.
Pledges for Laps for the Long Run can be made at www.mnstate.edu/laps .
