It runs in the family

To some, running is simply the rotation of one leg pasing the other while the sound of huffing and puffing exits the lungs. To Kenzie Schroeder and her family, running is so much more.
Motivation
Kenzie began running track and field for Owatonna high school in seventh grade, but it wasn’t until joining cross-country her junior year that running turned from a hobby to something bigger. Swayed by the insistance of her running friends, Kenzie quit volleyball to go out for cross-country.
“My track coach also coached cross-country so I thought, okay I’ll give it a whirl,” said Kenzie. 
Kenzie immediately found her stride in the new sport, finishing top seven in her first race. But over the course of her first year, it wasn’t just her times that impressed.
“I remember when Kenzie joined the team as a rookie, she immediately impressed me,” said Kenzie’s cross-country coach, Courtney Hugstad-Vaa Leer. “She put in more effort each day than I ever thought someone could. There were days when I saw her almost falling over from exhaustion, but she continued to push herself to the max of her abilities and encouraged her teammates to do the same.”
“When I started, I really wanted to show her I was serious about (running),” said Kenzie. “She was an amazing coach.”
“Kenzie would finish her mile intervals and instead of stopping and resting, she would run to find her struggling teammates and finish the workouts with them,” said Hugstad-Vaa Leer.
According to Hugstad-Vaa Leer, this is when she began to see the spark in Kenzie’s eyes light up about running. While this may be when the love began, other events would occur to keep the fire aflame. 
At the same time that Kenzie was beginning cross-country, her father, Larry Schroeder, had begun running as well.
“She really got me into (running) about the same time she got into cross-country,” said Larry. “She’d been pushing me for years to quit smoking. I was always worried that I was going to fail and not being able to quit smoking, and then she finally just wore me down. She was loving cross-country so she said, ‘Well, take up running.’”
While Larry wasn’t converted overnight, it was not long before running shoes replaced cigarette butts. 
“It took me probably six months to convince myself I was going to do this,” said Larry. “For the first six months I kind of dabbled. I didn’t really understand what running was all about. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’d go two or three miles and think it was impossible.  I was struggling, and she said, ‘Well, why don’t you sign up for a race?’ So I signed up for a half marathon in Owatonna which was six months away, and gradually had something to train for. Just like that it snapped. I loved the competition and after that I wanted to do a full marathon.”
While running had always been a competition Kenzie loved, the transformation she saw in her dad began to really effect her. Kenzie said she had not really considered running a marathon, but Larry soon convinced her to join him. 
On October 5 of 2013, Larry and Kenzie began their first marathon in the twin cities. Top tier runners would advance to the Boston Marathon.
“Going in, my mindset was ‘Boston, Boston,’ but then I took a step back and realized that for my first marathon this could be very unrealistic,” said Kenzie. “I just had to look at it and know that it was going to be a long-term goal.”
Kennzie elaborated that although she missed her goal of qualifying, it was at that point, running her first marathon with her dad, that she realized running was going to be a major part of her life. 
Training
After high school, Kenzie decided to attend the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Deciding against joining collegiate cross-country, Kenzie continued to train. 
While it may have been easy for some to slack in their dedication during freshman year, Kenzie did not falter in her running. 
“For me, my stress reliever is to go out and run, so I always found the time,” said Kenzie. “I encouraged a friend of mine to start running with me, and we stuck to a strict schedule.”
However, the pace of college classes and social life didn’t always lend Kenzie what seemed like enough time to run, and in these situations, Kenzie would call her dad. 
“She is always so worried about missing one day,” Larry laughed. “That was my biggest worry when she decided to (keep running) in college,” he continued. “College is hard enough. (Training for) marathons takes so much time. It’s so easy for the school work to slip. I’m very proud that she has been able to keep up with her school work at the same time.”
With the training schedule, as well as mandatory rests given by her dad, Kenzie continued to train for one race after another.  
“I run five days a week,” said Kenzie, “and one day is cross training, like biking, swimming or hiking. And then I take one day off.”
Kenzie also mixes in different paced days as well as hills. 
“There’s a method to the madness,” said Larry. “The hard thing is when you are out there and you’re dead tired and no one is around. You could walk up the hill, but if you walk up the hill during training, you’re probably going to walk up the hill during the race. It’s that self-dedication to run up that hill while you’re by yourself. That’s the neat thing.”
Neither Larry nor Kenzie seem to be lacking in the self-dedication arena. 
Family
Amidst the training and struggles, however, remains family, something that is extremely important to Kenzie. Coincidentally, running has brought them closer than ever. 
“Being able to run together makes it a lot more fun,” said Kenzie. “Coming home from college I think, ‘Yes, I get to run with my dad this weekend.’ Having a running buddy is nice.”
Larry couldn’t agree more. 
“Finding something you can do with your daughter, to spend that time together, is really what’s been keeping me going,” said Larry.
It hasn’t been just about bringing father and daughter closer. It wasn’t long before Kenzie’s mother, Kathy, was pulled into the new addiction, too. 
“With these guys, it’s like if you can’t beat them, join them,” said Kathy. “I was never a runner either. Now I can do a 5K.” 
While Kathy doesn’t do the longer running routes with her husband and daughter, she joins the two in other ways.
“We’ll do a 5 a.m. run, and she will be out on the bike with us the whole way,” said Kenzie.
Not only did Kathy begin running, but like her husband, she too gave up smoking because of the new lifestyle. 
“Running has really helped us as a family,” said Larry. “It’s a big family thing we didn’t realize when we started.” 
“It’s been a bonding thing,” Kenzie agreed.
But Kenzie didn’t stop at running. Her healthy lifestyle began to infiltrate the home as well. 
“She’s really gotten us to really pay attention to what we’re eating,” said Larry. “She always has the refridgerator full of healthy stuff.”
While Kenzie’s brother, Zachary, dabbled in the new family hobby, he’s decided it’s not for him right now. 
“Our son dabbled for two to three races, but he’s too smart,” said Larry. “We always do a Thanksgiving race, and we make him do that with us. He doesn’t train, but he does it.”
Highlights
Running as a family has provided the Schroeders with plenty of family memories over the years. Both Larry and Kenzie’s favorite race took place in the Twin Cities this past October, when Kenzie qualified for the Boston Marathon. It had been the goal for both to qualify, but an untimely injury kept Larry from reaching that goal.
“I made the decision that I still wanted to run with her,” said Larry. “I knew I couldn’t be next to her, but I was still going to do it. I kept getting updates from Owatonna people about how well she was doing, and I just couldn’t get to the finish line quick enough to find out how she did.”
Kenzie, meanwhile, was running one of her best races. 
“I’m all about finding the pacer,” said Kenzie. “I started ahead of him, and I kept looking back, but I felt great. So, I just took off. I felt awesome the whole way through.”
Kathy admitted that it was one of the worst races to attend, since she was forced to move around a lot more to cheer on both family members. 
Kenzie said she plans to run a full marathon in Chicago this October, and then began training for Boston in January. Both Kenzie and Larry admitted that this may be her most difficult training, as nearly all of it will take place in harsh winter conditions.
This past January the family headed to Orlando, Florida, to run the Disney Half Marathon at Disney World. 
“I had been hitting (my dad) with it for three years,” said Kenzie, who had had Disney World on her bucket list since she was young. 
Larry said that the early morning race proved to be one of his favorite running memories. 
“When we came up one hill, and all you could see was Magic Kingdom with the tower all lit up - I thought I was too old for Disney, but that made the trip for me.”
Kenzie said the race was not about placing high, but about building memories. 
“I just wanted to have fun,” said Kenzie. “We stopped at every other character and took a picture. We took it all in, and finished the race together hand in hand.”
Running marathons has taken the family all over the country together, and Kathy said they could go on talking forever about the memories they’ve built. 
Inspiration
Kenzie has been helping others for many years, and even though she isn’t a part of a team anymore, people are still noticing her, and it’s still inspiring.
“Kenzie is a person who cannot contain the compassion she has for others; it just flows out of her,” said Hugstad-Vaa Leer. “She cares about the people she comes into contact with and goes out of her way to make them better.”  
“Everyone thinks we’re obsessed with it,” said Kenzie. “But I’ll get texts from people saying how inspiring it is, too.”
Kenzie said that while the competition and medals are great, the support the three bring to each other and others is what it’s all about. 
“When I quit smoking and told people what I was doing, they said I was crazy,” said Larry, admitting that even he didn’t know how long it would last. “I didn’t know if I’d go two years, yet here I am seven years into it now, and I’m 7,500 hundred miles into this, and I’ve probably ran 86 races. I hope I’m still doing this at 70.”
Larry stressed that although some people don’t believe one can quit smoking and turn to running and a healthy lifestyle, he is proof anyone can. 
Kathy echoed Larry’s sentiments, stating that people have begun commenting on her picking up running and quitting smoking. 
“It’s not just about the medals,” said Kenzie. “It’s about the support and the impact you make.”
Kenzie will graduate this May with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She will finish her student teaching in June, and begin her first job in Chicago this September.