PROFILE
Hooked on racing
Andrea Rediger remains successful
Andrea Rediger recently won the Hot Dash in Minneapolis and placed third at the Shamrock shuffle 8k in chicago. She is an illinois native and ran for the university of minnesota. Submitted photo
BY NATE LECKBAND Andrea Rediger is no stranger to success. In her junior year at Rockford Auburn High School in Rockford, Illinois, Rediger broke the school record in the 800 meter run. Recently, Rediger finished third at the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago. Before that, Rediger won the Hot Dash in Minneapolis. Rediger got her start running early. After a presidential fitness test one mile run, a friend’s dad recommended she try a local running program. “I got started when I was 11 or 12… and there was a kids’ running club in the city called
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the Rockford Wildcats,” she said. “I almost quit in the first few months, but once the racing season started I was hooked.” Rediger also enjoyed soccer, but eventually gave it up to focus on track. Rediger’s focus on running paid off. Although she missed her sophomore season of cross country with a stress fracture and her senior year with plantar fasciitis, she made it to the Illinois State Track Meet in the 800 meter run her junior year. Rediger planned to walk on and run for the University of Minnesota, but her plantar fasciitis kept her from starting her freshman year. She worked through the injury, spending a lot
of time on an elliptical, and eventually returned to running. Before walking onto the team her junior year, she trained for and completed the 2009 Twin Cities Marathon. After running consistent mileage, she felt ready, and joined the team for the indoor track season. Rediger joined a team of talented runners. “I was a little star struck at first,” she said. Though she was in a new and competitive environment, Rediger was still able to make the traveling cross country team. During her time running at the University of Minnesota, Rediger met Katie Dyson, whom she sometimes ran with in the same training group. After three seasons of track and two of cross country,
