John Haeder: The Captain
John started running in his early forties. His first run was the Athlete’s
Foot 10K in the mid-80s. He has run two Black Hills Marathons, as well
as the St. George Marathon in Utah, together with BHRC running couples
Don and Cindy Walker and Bob and Kathy Pfeiffer. His best time in the
Black Hills Marathon at age 45 was 3:18:13. He claims to be a “so-so” jogger
and switched to biking for the second time for periods of up to four
years. However, he always comes back to running because “it makes
me feel really good looking,” he said with some sarcasm. He has
been a member of BHRC for the past 15 years.
John grew up in the small town of Wolsey, SD with 16 in his high school graduating class. He participated in all high school sports offered: basketball, track and softball. His wife Linda is a Rapid City native. They have been married 40 years and have two children, both grown, a son in Bozeman, MT and a daughter who resides in Rapid City.
He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from SDSM&T. He was in ROTC at Mines and served in the US Army Corps of Engineers, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant. However, I have observed his son-in-law, demonstrating respect and affection, refer to him as the “Captain.” When he took over leadership of BHRC in the spring of 2001, your editor thought he was “The President.” John demurred and doesn’t even like the term “Coordinator.” However, I think his son-in-law is right. “Captain” fits John’s natural self-effacing leadership style. He has been an active volunteer with the YMCA and the Catholic Diocese. He has recently cut back in his volunteer commitments to those organizations and is thus devoting time to re-invigorating BHRC.
Following graduation from Mines, he worked for “Ma Bell” for a number of years. They offered him a promotion, but it would have required him moving the family to Sioux Falls. Instead, he took training in San Diego to become an MAI (Member of the Appraisers Institute) and has run Haeder Appraisals since 1978. John has also become a real estate broker.
Our Captain was active in establishing the Skyline Drive Wilderness area. He also coordinated the “behind the scenes” efforts to secure M Hill as a wilderness park to complement the Skyline Drive Wilderness area.
He states, “I’m still running a few miles but not enough to finish the Bridger Ridge Run and had to bow out of the Big Horns Run—work. I now have two bicycles (one dirt) but am not getting any miles in.”
He continues, “I have enjoyed very much being part of the running scene in Rapid City and particularly enjoy the BHRC—the camaraderie, the exercise, the responsible way we have helped running in the Black Hills and, particularly with regard to the BHRC captaincy, the fact that we’ve been able to pull so many folks together to make this a good Club with The Last Mile, weekly get-togethers, annual special events, sponsorships, etc., but especially the always-there-to-help presence of the most stalwart members.
“As I look at retirement from the limited leadership role I’ve played, I applaud all the folks who have done so much for running. I also make a sincere request to each member to make some effort to support running by taking an active role in the BHRC—work a race, start a new race, join weekend and Wednesday night runs, host a hosted fun run some month, etc. Make A Difference!” So concludes the good Captain.