Olympic Medalist to Visit Northland Middle Schools

We've just received word from Grandmas Marathon that an Olympic medalist will soon be in Duluth.

Olympian and World Cross Country champion Lynn Jennings will be the featured speaker at the April 24 Essentia Health Fit-n-Fun Middle School Assemblies.

A 1992 U.S. track Olympian, Jennings will give presentations to students at Duluth’s Lincoln Park Middle School at 10 a.m. and at Superior (Wis.) Middle School at 2 p.m.

Jennings earned a bronze medal for her performance in the 10,000 meters at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. Her third-place finish of 31 minutes, 19.89 seconds was at the time an American record and stood until 2002. She still owns the American 10K road record of 31:06 set in 1990.

A three-time World Cross Country champion (1990, ’91, ’92), she also medaled at two World Indoor Championships in the 3,000 meters – winning bronze in 1993 and silver in 1995. She holds a combined 39 national titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and road racing.

Jennings, 52, grew up in Harvard, Mass., and was the only girl on the high school boys cross country team. She ran collegiately at Princeton University.

Currently she splits her time between Portland, Ore. and Craftsbury Common, Vt., where she is the director of running at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center.

About the Essentia Health Fit-n-Fun Series

In 2008, Grandma’s Marathon and the Young Athletes Foundation partnered with Duluth Public School Systems and Essentia Health to create the Fit-n-Fun Middle School Assemblies and Fit-n-Fun Run. These two initiatives are aimed toward motivating children to lead healthier lifestyles.

The 2013 Fit-n-Fun Run will be held on May 15 at Duluth’s Public Schools Stadium track.