Only March, But Women Runners Looking to Duluth September Run

Goals are support for each other and raising funds to inspire and help women in business.

For some women this was a day to get out of their uniform and work clothes and get into their running shoes.

They started things by gathering at the Duluth Running Company. What brings them together is the love of running and the registration kickoff for a fall run and fundraiser.

Friday they headed out on a quick jaunt–a thirty-minute run–just to get things started.

September 28th will be the annual Bridging The Gap Women’s 10 Mile. That event was created as a way to bring women runners together and offer support.

But Duluth Running Company’s CFO and Co-owner, Andrea Agar, says it has evolved into much more than that.

“This run was designed five years ago. This will be our fourth year doing it. And we also have a fund that’s dedicated to this run. So the proceeds of this run actually go to this fund. And we’re able to donate money to the Bridging The Gap fund,” said Agar.

“And what that fund does is support female entrepreneurship in the area. So we’ve been able to provide resources, start-up capital, and educational programs to inspire other women to start their own businesses in the Twin Ports area,” Agar said.

Partnering in the effort and the run is the Entrepreneur Fund. Among other things, it helps women with mentorships and networking in traditionally male dominated fields. But the Fund’s Communications Manager, Carly Viegut, says it also helps with the nuts and bolts challenges of running a business.

“A few of the common barriers that women business owners face is access to lending, or capital. It’s just been as recent as 1988 that a woman’s been able to take out a business loan without a male co-signer,” said Viegut.

“And so that’s had a lot of implications. Women are still sometimes nervous to approach lending institutions when they really could benefit from a business loan. We know that woman traditionally ask for less money than men do in the same situation,” said Viegut.

As for the run itself, before noon Friday, one hundred women had already registered for the September 28th event. The goal is to see seven to eight hundred women at the starting line.

The run begins at Duluth’s Hawk Ridge, then turns down Seven Bridges Road, and eventually hits the Lakewalk.