Dear Coaches,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lowell Lyngaas. I have been the cross-country and track coach at Valley Community School in Elgin for the past 23 years and formed a non-profit organization, Race America Inc., 10 years ago.

For he past 9 years we have been running across America in a relay fashion starting in places like Myrtle Beach, Disney World and South Padre Island ending in our hometown. We have run in almost every state crisscrossing our country. Our biggest challenge was the 3,800 plus miles from Alaska. We have had kids from all over the country run with us.

 This year, we are joining with the state of Iowa and it’s “Get Iowa Fit” campaign by running in all 99 counties. We will start in Burlington  on July 22 and zigzag around Iowa hoping to run at least 10 miles in every county. The trip will be about 1,850 miles total which will take us 11 days.

Our goal is to have at least one person from every county run with us. After such a spectacular show at the State Track meet, what a better group to start with than the cross-country and track kids from Iowa to show Iowans how to get fit.

This has been a tremendous experience for the young kids that have participated during the past years. We invite you to join with us and show us your part of the state. Our route is posted on our website, www.raceamerica.org. Our exact time schedule for each day will be posted later.

If you are interested in just how we do things, please contact me at (home) 563-423-5230 or you may contact our race coordinator, Deb Kahler at (home) 563-426-5293, (cell) 563-880-9426 or kahler6@alpinecom.net.

The more runners we have join us, the more fun we’ll all have. Please help pass the word to all runners of all abilities in your county. Our kids in Northeast Iowa are hoping to meet and run with others no matter what their talent level is. Let’s show Iowa; Running is FUN!

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        Lowell Lyngaas

                                                                        Valley Community School

                                                                        Cross Country and Track Coach