VISIONBANK’S TENIELLE KLUBBEN IS “RUNNING WITH PURPOSE”

By Tristan James

Photography by Nate Mickelberg Images

Tenielle Klubben, Human Resources Coordinator at VISIONBank, will be running the Boston Marathon on April 20, 2015. She qualified for this prestigious event by posting a qualifying time in last year’s Fargo Marathon. Klubben will be running with purpose as she has dedicated this race to the memory of a young lady she used to babysit. Klubben’s inspiration is the story of a young girl by the name of Cassidy Joy Andel.

Klubben grew up in Cooperstown, ND, a typical small town in rural North Dakota with a population of approximately 950. Her love of running led her to compete in cross country and track starting in junior high and continuing through high school. Her first marathon event was entered for fun in 2007 with friends and former teammates. Klubben continued to run on her own after high school, but it wasn’t until 2012 that she ran in an organized race again. “The moment I realized I missed running in a more competitive setting was after running the 10K in the Fargo Mini Marathon.” Following that experience she ran the half marathon in 2013 finishing 12th among the women with a time of 1:30:27. That fall she competed in the October Mini Marathon Half, placing 1st on the women’s side with a time of 1:27:52. “After that I set my sights on the 2014 Fargo Marathon.” She finished 5th in the women’s division with a time of 3:11:57, which was well under the Boston qualifying time of 3:35:00.

Living in the tight-knit community of Cooperstown, the Andel and Klubben families were neighbors and close family friends. Amy, Cassidy Andel’s mother, babysat Klubben and her sister when they were young and it was only natural that when Klubben was old enough she would babysit for the Andel family. According to Klubben, “Cassidy was a strong, beautiful young woman with a magnetic personality and a remarkable ability to make friends no matter where she went.” Klubben was attending NDSU when she received some stunning news on the morning of November 4, 2010. Cassidy Andel had taken her own life. When Klubben’s