Many people believe that people who run races were born as runners and have been running since they were very young. Not so for Sue Erdmann, who like many of us, began running later in her life. While in her mid 40's in the early 1990's, she signed up for her first event, the St. Joe's Run/Walk 5k which then was held in downtown Appleton. She walked the event with her sister. Then a few years later, she accompanied her significant other, Ned Hughes, to Pacesetters meetings as a guest before eventually paying her dues and becoming a member.

Sue's first half marathon was around 2000 when she walked with Ned at the Whistlestop Marathon in Ashland. The lead guide made a wrong turn cutting off close to 2 miles. With this being her first half, and with Ned being Ned, he insisted they go back and complete those missed miles while everyone else finished up short. Technically they should have won first and second place!

In 2004, Pacesetters member Sandra Thein introduced Sue to the run/walk method and convinced her to join a small group from the Fox Cities to participate in a marathon held in Central Park, New York City. She ran it as part of a 2-person relay, pleased to break 3 hours for her 13.1 mile portion.

In 2012 Sue upped her efforts, completing 12 half marathons that year! The following year she completed her first full marathon, the Fox Cities Marathon, just short of age 65. Then in 2014 she became more focused on her speed, running 3 full marathons, all with Boston qualifying times, and also completed her first ultra distance event!

In 2015, Sue turned things up yet another notch, completing 7 marathons, including a personal best time of 4:11:20. She completed her first of 6 Boston Marathons, Kilimanjaro, and 2 ultras. Then the following year she continued to push herself, completing 7 marathons and 6 ultras, including one 100k distance (that's a 62 mile event!).

Sue's list of accomplishments goes on. In 2017 it was 4 marathons including Machu Pichu, plus an ultra. In 2018, 5 marathons including Big Sur and NYC, and another 100k event. 

So we've reached 2019, and up to this point I'm wondering how does Sue keep going without noting any injuries. She had completed another 3 marathons that year and then rolled her ankle while walking to a porta potty during a training run here at Runaway Shoes. It's here that she proves another level of toughness. After running through some ankle pain during a 5k followed by a half in the Great Smoky Mtns, she learned that she had actually been running on a broken ankle.

In 2020, that wonderful Covid outbreak year, while many of us believed we had to take a break from racing, Sue continued, completing 3 virtual marathons. She did another virtual marathon in 2021, then took a nasty spill on her bike in July. Her recovery was a slow process. Initially it took her 10 minutes to walk to the street corner using a walker. Somehow she came back and completed the Berlin and (rescheduled) Boston Marathons yet that fall. It wasn't until she returned home after them that she learned she had fractured 2 pubic bones. Who breaks pelvic bones and within the next 3 months runs 2 marathons? Sue does.

With so many marathons already completed, in so many locations, Sue decided she wanted to continue doing more destination marathons, and sought trying to complete the remaining Major World Marathons. In 2023 she got one step closer, completing the London Marathon. in 2024, she completed the Sydney Marathon.

So that leaves one Major to complete. In March 2026, Sue plans on completing that last Major, the Tokyo Marathon, at age 77.

And Sue's accomplishments don't stop there. She has always been interested in new adventures presented to her. She is currently working on completing the Wisconsin Ice Age Trail on foot with her daughter. They started completing portions of it in May 2024, and have now logged over 700 miles of the entire 1,200 mile route, learning much about our great state along the way. She has also completed several 100 mile bike charity events (benefitting JDRF), been a coach for Girls on the Run, and biked across Spain on the Camino de Santiago. 

Considering that Sue couldn't even run around the track in gym class back when she was in high school, she certainly has come a long way. What an inspiration, Sue Erdmann!

We are actively looking for more great people like you to get involved with our Pacesetters Club. We currently have various board position openings available. It requires minimal time commitment and gives you a great opportunity to have your ideas heard and get them put into action. This is a great club that's been around for many years, we'd like to continually make it better. If you'd like to learn more, or know someone else who might be interested, please contact us.

With humidity near 100% at the start and temperatures climbing into the mid 70's by late morning, it was an unseasonably warm day for the 2025 Fox Cities Marathon on September 21st. It was great to see so many great efforts, congratulations to all finishers!

There were over 3,000 finishers across all events. The Pacesetters were well represented, here are a few of our members and others who ran with us on training runs this year. 

Other finishers not pictured here who have run at our Pacesetters events include Aaron Behnke, Anne Siegrist, Benjamin Bricco, Danielle Zahn, Elaine Moore, Fred Kramer, Gabriel Tempel, Gary Akgulian, Gloria West, Jan Peebles, Jason Wozniak, Joe Cooper, Linda McDaniel, Matt Schmitz, Melissa Soto, Mike Putnam, Mitch Isaac, Natalie Pelkey, Robert Ferguson, Scott and Mike Janssen, Steve Wieckert, Sue Erdmann, Susan Baehman, Terra and Chad Otis, and Virginia Sturm.

Meet Junior Bounous of Utah. Watch this inspirational video of this 98 year old skier, who indirectly teaches us some good lessons here about our capabilities as humans and the importance of staying active and continuing to do the things we love.