A young Democratic friend called Bluestem's attention this morning to the fact that Minnesota state senator Dave Senjem is running.
5K races.
This isn't exactly news, we learned when we googled it, but it's certainly an inspiration. The Post Bulletin's Jeff Pieters had reported in September's After Deadline blog post, Senjem happy to just finish this race:
First as a member of the Rochester City Council and later the Minnesota Legislature, Dave Senjem has run plenty of times … for election.
But Friday was the first time the 70-year-old state senator had completed a 5-kilometer road race, the fifth annual Minnesota State Capitol Run@Work Day. Finishing the race, at the Capitol Mall in St. Paul, capped a remarkable nine-month turnaround for Senjem, who's lost 70 pounds through daily exercise and thoughtful eating choices.
Senjem committed to improving his physical condition in January while moving his office from the State Capitol to the State Office Building, after Republicans lost majority in the Senate.
Senjem told Pieters that he had lost 80 pounds and was down to 260 pounds.
Since that report, the Rochester senator has tweeted a couple of items about his running and diet:
Getting ready for tomorrow afternoon's Mayo Heritage Days 5K run. My second in two weeks. Hoooray!
— David Senjem (@DSenjem) September 28, 2013
Lutefisk today in Kasson. Unfortunately get only one gigantic helping because of diet.
— David Senjem (@DSenjem) October 24, 2013
Bluestem's editor thinks that lutefisk in and of itself is an incentive to starvation, but there's no arguing taste (or that jingoistic disdain for lutefisk she acquired from her Danish grandfather).
It's impressive to learn of Senjem's commitment to physical fitness and hope more folks follow his lead.
Slimming down and running races seems to be a thing in the Fighting First. Congressman Walz has shed pound as well and competes in 10K and half-marathons. Last weekend his Congressional twitter account shared this news:
Great time & great crowd at Mankato marathon today! I ran the half. Congrats to all runners! pic.twitter.com/Vv1zcfK2wO
— Tim Walz (@RepTimWalz) October 20, 2013
And the campaign account tweeted back in September:
Enjoying King Turkey Day in Worthington! Started with the Turkey Day 10k; Great Gobbler Gallop coming up!
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) September 14, 2013
A source close to Walz confirmed that he had indeed run in the Turkey Day 10K.
Congrats to both guys and thanks for the good examples across the political spectrum.
Photo: Senator Dave Senjem at the Run@Work day 5K. Photo from Dave Senjem via Rochester Post Bulletin.
If you enjoyed reading this post, consider giving a donation via mail (P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or paypal:
I worked there almost nine years and never heard of the annual Run at Work day.
Posted by: Kevin Watterson | Oct 25, 2013 at 11:24 AM