Washington Co., WI – Pete Rettler, the Dean of the West Bend Campus of Moraine Park Technical College, and president of the United Way of Washington County, is prepping to inspire all of us.
On Dec. 31, 2018 Rettler will celebrate running every single day for the past 25 years.
In an effort to highlight his achievement and raise $25,000, Rettler is encouraging everyone to get involved and give back via the United Way of Washington County.
In late 1993, I was attending an alumni wrestling meet up at UW Eau Claire and realized that I was nowhere near the 126 pounds I wrested at in college. In fact, I was feeling sluggish and weighing close to 200 pounds. My college teammate, Phil Sharenbrock, and I made a new year’s resolution for 1994 to run every single day. After watching Darrell Bevell lead the Badgers to a Rosebowl Title, I went on the first of over 9,000 runs. Phil and I both made it a year, Phil was smart and stopped. I decided to keep the streak going as long as I could. God willing, this year on Dec 31, I will complete 25 years of not missing a single day of running.
I’ve averaged 2.5 miles per day for 25 years with a minimum run of 1.2 miles. I realize my string of luck will run out at some point and so I decided this year that I would combine my blessing of good luck and good health for a quarter of a century into something that could positively impact Washington County.
As I mentioned, I’m currently president of United Way Washington County and we have decided that the last 25 days of the year, we are going to have 25 Runs of Gratitude.
Each day starting on Dec 6, I will run with representatives, clients, board members from 25 United Way funded agencies. I plan to blog each run and talk about why the Washington County community should be grateful for the funded program that I’m representing that day.
We are also looking for companies to sponsor each of the runs. Our goal is to raise $1,000 per run. I’m very pleased to announce American Construction Services has agreed to sponsor the first run of the year with the Boys and Girls Club. Another bonus is if this is new United Way money, Commerce State Bank and WBMI will match the amount. I encourage you to find a program that you are passionate about and look for ways to sponsor that run.
I realize that I’ve been greatly blessed and hope that you’ll partner with me in supporting the United Force For Good.
Click HERE to see Pete’s running schedule and how you can get involved.
