After winning gold in both Half Marathon and 8-kilometer cross country race in July in Finland, 40-year-old Lund ready to conquer next challenge Sunday as a medal hopeful for United States in 6-kilometer event in Bathurst, Australia

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

The only hard thing in April Lund’s life is when she can’t run. And then when things happen to people and she can’t help them. Take, for instance, earlier this February when she and her husband both came down with COVID-19.

“What was hard was when I had to take my husband to the hospital,” she said.

Amid that everyday chaos, the 40-year-old Lund, is in the final preparations for perhaps the biggest race of her life.

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After winning the Masters women’s 6-kilometer race Jan. 21 at the USATF Cross Country Championships in Virginia, she’ll toe the line Sunday at the World Masters Athletics Short Course Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia.

It marks the first time in the history of the event that the Masters athletes will compete at the global cross country event as part of the schedule at the same site with the Senior and Under-20 races, as well as the mixed 4x2-kilometer relay. All other races for the remaining age groups, including the Masters mixed relay, will be during Saturday’s schedule, with the Masters individual 4- and 6-kilometer competitions held Sunday.

Lund arrives in Australia with an opportunity to reach the podium and medal for the United States after winning titles in multiple events in July at the World Masters Championships in Finland.

“I have yet to compete at something big that there wasn’t some kind of crisis in my life,” she said. “A crisis doesn’t even affect me.”

For Lund, the everyday “hard” is what she’s only known.

Growing up in Mount Vernon, Illinois, Lund got her first job when she was 4. Walking back and forth from her grandmother to her mom’s house, she would pass the local bakery. Determined, she went in several times, picked up a broom and went to work. Even when she got shooed away, she went back. She didn’t want money, just food to bring home to her family.

“When you grow up with nothing and have a hard life, you look at life differently,” Lund said.

Lund’s running journey didn’t start out glamorous either. Wanting to follow in her sister’s footsteps, she started running in the seventh grade, but stopped because the other girls were mean to her.

Without the money to afford proper shoes and gear, Lund said she wasn’t introduced to her first sports bra until she was a sophomore, and she didn’t pick up the sport again until she reached high school.

With decent times as a prep athlete in the distance events, she stayed in-state and ran for Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

Lund explained she competed for a year and a half, but suffered an injury and eventually left college.

Running then took a backseat and other activities shifted into Lund’s focus. Moving from Illinois to St. Louis and eventually to North Dakota, Lund’s life in her 20s was her trying to fill a void. She lost her mom when she was 26.

“I was drinking when I woke up in the morning until I passed out at night,” Lund said. “I was still productive. I held multiple jobs, volunteered, but was trying to fill this void in me that couldn’t be filled the way I was doing it.”

Deep inside, Lund no longer wanted this lifestyle for herself. 

“I grew up in the projects and we didn’t have much and when I looked around I just didn’t want to live ‘that way,’” Lund said. “And there’s nothing wrong with ‘that way,’ but what I mean by ‘that way’ is I didn’t want to struggle. I didn’t want to not have food on the table, I wanted a way to provide for my family. I knew then if I didn’t change my way, I wasn’t going to be there much longer. I think at some point you have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired.” 

One step at a time

At age 32, Lund started running again and stopped drinking. When she ran her first 5-kilometer race, her belly was so big she couldn’t see her shoes. But the fiery, competitive persona was very much alive in Lund, and she finished second in her age group.

“I stood there until they gave me something,” she said with a laugh. “I placed, I won something.”

Lund finished second for women in the 2015 Bismarck Half Marathon. In 2016, she won the women’s race in 1:29.13, then got a job at Gold’s Gym based on the recommendation of her now husband Jeff, who lived an active lifestyle.

With running, lifting, and grounded by a healthy lifestyle, Lund didn’t want to do it alone. But she realized there was nowhere in the area for her to train with other people. No real running clubs or groups. So, like most situations, she took matters into her own hands.

“I just started recruiting people at the gym,” Lund said. “I just look at things and I look for solutions.”

Under the direction of Lund, the small group of individuals began track workouts and group runs. The numbers kept growing and eventually Lund organized Bismarck’s first official track club, “Get You Sum” (GYS), rooted in the principle of empowerment.

“It’s probably my greatest accomplishment,” Lund said. “It’s really awesome, all ages are welcome and everyone feels accepted for exactly who they are, and exactly where they are at.”

Grounded by faith

No matter the “hard” Lund has always come back to running and God. Faith has been a big driving force for Lund since she was a little girl. At age 8, her family rented a house from Bernice Caldwell, the first female evangelist in the United States. Lund called Caldwell a mother-like figure in her life.

“When I was young, she used to tell me that running so much was bad for me and women weren’t supposed to run,” Lund recalled. “My reply was, ‘well, women aren’t supposed to preach either.’ After that, she was standing at most of my finish lines up to college.”

God has always been a way out for Lund and how she’s become a stronger person. Lund said she‘s not sorry for any chapter of her story. That includes the drinking, the addiction and the painful losses.

The only regret she does have is not finishing her college running career. Lund’s story also includes a lot of highs. She now is a full-time personal trainer and opened up her own gym a little over two years ago.

“Your life is going to have a lot of changes and inconsistencies but I live by this, ‘Champions don’t make excuses, we just make adjustments,’” she said. “When you are rooted in faith and discipline you can literally go through anything and when we’re not enough, God is more than enough.”

World Class

Lund has won over 50 career races, transforming herself into a world-class athlete in the process.

Coached by the late Rich Anderson for more than six years, until he passed away in October 2021, she is now trained by Ken Rotich from Kenya Atlay Athletics. She was able to travel to Kenya last spring to go and train with the Kenyans.

“It changed my life,” Lund said.

Lund, who qualified for the 2023 Boston Marathon in April, said she’s feeling extremely fit and ready to go. Her goal Sunday is the podium, but Lund will again be ambitiously chasing the gold.

And there’s no reason to believe she can’t win the 6-kilometer competition, especially after capturing gold medals in July in both the 8-kilometer cross country race and the Half Marathon in the 35-39 division at the World Masters Championships in Finland.

“When I step to that line, no one has hurt like I have, no one has been through what I’ve been through, no one has trained harder than me,” Lund said. “The only way they are going to beat me is if I make a mistake or if they have more talent because I can handle the hurt, I can handle the pain. I am trying to teach people just because it’s hard you don't have to give up.”