Past Recipients
2025: Brook Sigler
2024: Colten Knefelkamp
2023: Katie Oelschlager
2022: Seth Mills
2021: Margo Keller
2020: Allyson Willson
2019: Jackson Longenbaugh
2018: Shelby Mosier
2017: Khale Rider
2016: Leah Mills
2015: Samina Qureshi
2014: Samuel Dailey & Dallas Piotrowski
When Tim passed, our family didn’t want to honor him in a traditional way. We saw his viewing as a chance for everyone he’d ever impacted to come together, share stories, and laugh through tears.
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During the funeral procession, the cars stopped at The Van Buren Event Center, a downtown building our family and friends had helped renovate. In the freezing February air, people got out and started to run. Kids, parents, coaches, and even people who had never run before took off toward the gravesite, about half a mile away.
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Tim’s young niece said as she ran, “I sure wish Uncle Tim liked something else.” Everyone laughed through the cold because she was right and he would have thought it was hilarious. It was absolutely freezing, and he would’ve loved every second of making us all run in it.
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It felt like one last coaching moment from him: bring people together, make it tough, make it fun, and laugh the whole way through.
Running for a Reason
That day sparked our first 5K fundraiser later that year. It just felt right to honor him through something he loved. The race started at the old high school where cross-country practices began and ended at the finish line on the track, bringing everything full circle.
Over two summers, nearly 250 runners joined us and together we raised more than $11,000 to start the scholarship fund. Each race carried Tim’s signature mix of fun and effort — plenty of laughter, a little competition, and a whole lot of heart.​