Local runner owns two of the top all-time performances

By CANDACE CHASE/The Daily Inter Lake

Deborah Raunig of Big Arm still appears twice on the list of the top 100 all-time U.S. performances for women's marathon runs in Olympic trials.

With a time of 2:30:23 at the 1988 Olympic trials, Raunig fell just short of making the top three slots for the summer games team heading to Seoul, South Korea. She said she was disappointed but now has the long view of her accomplishments.

"It seems amazing to me now, in retrospect," Raunig said.

At 53, she remains lean, fit and a committed runner with a little help from her two border collie mix dogs. Almost every morning at 6:30 a.m., the three race three or four miles along the shore of Flathead Lake.

"My dogs keep me honest," she said. "They look forward to it every day."

After their run, Raunig hits the road for her 40-mile drive to Kalispell where she works as the health and safety manager for Head Start. The job entails coordinating dental care, immunizations and other medical services for the students.

Although the work ties her to a desk and multiple meetings, she enjoys the job.

"I love working with the little kids," she said. "That's my favorite part of the job."

Raunig also feels a connection with Head Start families as the daughter of a family of very modest means when she grew up in Fort Belknap. Her father worked for the telephone company in the small rural town.

"That's where I started running, really for the lack of anything else to do," she said.

As a child, Raunig participated on the local swim team, turning in respectable times. She had no idea that she was physically blessed for running until her high school started a cross-country and track program that included girls.

Prior to that, girls had little opportunity for athletics in the pre-Title IX world. Raunig decided to check out the new program in her freshman year and found she excelled.

"I wasn't pretty [stylistically], but I had a lot of endurance," she said. "I did pretty well at district meets. We didn't have state meets then."

Raunig achieved even greater success when her family moved to Havre for her junior year of high school. She won the state title in the mile in track.

After high school, she attended Northern Montana University (now Montana State University, Northern). She later transferred to the University of Montana as she pursued becoming a registered dietitian.

As part of her training, Raunig worked as an intern at Harper Grace Hospital, a complex including a medical school and seven hospitals in Detroit.

"It was a great experience but it was probably the greatest culture shock I've ever endured," she said. "It was pretty intense."

To deal with the stress, she started running through the streets of the inner city, making sure she had mugger's money just in case. By changing her routes and dressing down, Raunig said she never had to pay out.

After a year, she returned to Missoula where she married Kerry Wiedrich in 1982. With few jobs available, Raunig said she started running even more.

Her brother Tom, an all-American racer with Nike's elite team, encouraged her to enter races and provided training plans during her career. He now serves as the track and cross-country coach at the University of Montana.

Raunig won her first race - the Governor's Cup Race in Helena. She finished with a time of 2:54, just a minute away from qualifying for the Olympic trials.

She was as surprised as anyone.

"You have no idea you can do something like that," she said. "I won by quite a long ways."

In 1983, Raunig won the Portland, Ore., marathon, striding to the finish to the roar of large crowds. She was a complete dark horse who raced into the spotlight that day.

Race invitations flowed in along with monetary rewards such as sponsorships and appearance fees.

"I ended up with a relationship with Nike," she said. "I had opportunities all over the U.S. to run in races."

More invitations came from abroad, including Japan and Puerto Rico. Between sponsor support, appearance fees and prize money, Raunig made a career as a marathon runner.

Her regimen included lifting weights and running once or twice a day on a track as she set her sights on the Olympic team. Her routine kept her body fat at 10 percent and her weight at 106 pounds on her 5-foot 5-inch frame.

"The training was quite grueling," she said. "But it made me feel good - it gave me self-confidence."

According to Raunig, running a marathon becomes most difficult at about 20 miles into the event of a little more than 26 miles. Stubborn determination proved her best ally in the sport.

"I can't stand to quit," she said. "I can push through things."

In 1988, she was ranked number one in the country as she entered the Olympic trials in Pittsburgh. Although Raunig was in her early 30s, the prime age for women runners, she had suffered several injuries that year.

When she finished outside the top three who went on to Seoul, she had mixed emotions.

"I was disappointed," she admits. "In some ways, it was a relief to have it over with."

She continued to have lots of opportunities in racing for a couple of years. Raunig said she quit when chronic injuries kept her from winning.

By the time the next Olympic trials rolled around, Raunig attained something more memorable than a gold medal - her daughter Mary, now 16.

Last year, she returned to long-distance racing to participate in the 35-mile Swan Crest Trail Run.

"I finished and I wasn't last," she said.

After professional racing, Raunig concentrated on her career as a clinical dietitian working at Deaconess Medical Center and Kalispell Regional Medical Center. She also managed the Women, Infants and Children nutritional program in Polson for three years.

She took the Head Start position about two years ago.

Although Raunig misses the excitement of racing past cheering crowds, she said she feels fortunate that she can still practice her sport every morning.

"I love being outside and it gives me back something from my past," she said.

Raunig recommends running as part of a balanced fitness routine along with weight lifting, yoga and other activities. She said people think running hurts the knees, but said it's actually the twisting sports that damage those joints.

When snow or cold conspire to make running distasteful, Raunig relays the simple advice of a coach who made her successful at running and life:

"No excuses," she said with a smile.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.