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Sports
Sports
CRYSTAL FALLS — When Chandra Ziegler, with the heartened help of her husband Erich Ziegler, dreamed of Iron Endurance, she hoped it would encourage children and families to get active, get outdoors and get inspired!
With a landscape as beautiful as the U.P. as our “backyard”, it was always her hope and vision to create opportunities for families to form closer connections with mother nature, wide open skies, and each other. This continues to be a pressing and growing need as we’re often asked to trade those connections for that of high-speed internet and screen time.
Iron Endurance has worked tirelessly to teach the lessons of endurance athletics and the outdoors to youth since its inception in 2016. As a 501(c)3 non-profit it provides after-school running clubs for kids during fall and spring, brings after-school snowshoe club and mentoring/coaching during The Great 8 Winter Games in winter, and also spear-heads one of the most revered races in the Upper Peninsula, The Run Your Bass Off during the summer. The groups after-school programs have seen many children nurture their need for nature through team-building exercises, athletics and environmental education; while the Run Your Bass Off Race, which piggy-backs off of the ever popular Bass Festival in Iron County attracts families from all over.
Iron Endurance supports families through all seasons. With this much iron-clad impact, it has been bittersweet for the board members to say goodbye to two of its “greats”, Chandra and Erich Ziegler, as their family relocates to Marquette this fall. However, we hope to continue our President, Chandra Ziegler’s vision to inspire more families to stay active and enjoy the outdoors together.
We are currently looking for passionate and interested board members and volunteers. So, if you believe in the groups mission to get active, get outdoors and get inspired we invite you to get involved and join us for an informational meeting on Wednesday Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. at the Crystella Ski Hill in Crystal Falls. We will be discussing the future of the group, including Iron County Trail development, the potential of our free after-school programs, and prospective community events for children and families alike. The commitment involves a monthly meeting and assistance with some or all of the programs mentioned above.
We have been so grateful for all the support over the years from community members and local businesses and would love to keep such a great group going despite the loss of The Ziegler Family from our community. We hope to see some fresh faces and gain new insight as to how we can help heed the heart and spirit of the outdoors and keep it alive in the youth and families here in incredible Iron County.
For questions or interested in supporting our cause contact Board Trustee, Lindsey Anderson at 906-367-4257.
Follow us on Facebook or check out our website: ironendurance.weebly.com which has an up-to-date calendar of events for the year, from there you can also join our mailing list where we share tons of valuable content, community events, exercises and future volunteer opportunities. Thank you, Iron Endurance Board Members, Chandra Ziegler – President, Jennifer Rajala - Vice President, Katie Clark – Treasurer, Erich Ziegler – Secretary, Kurt Anderson – Trustee, Lindsey Anderson – Trustee, Shirley Frank - Trustee