Ted's Run for Literacy

Joanne Schiewe (In Memoriam)

Joanne was an active and much loved TRL board member for many years. As TRL’s MC she rocked the mic like nobody’s business!

Joanne was an accomplished Adventure racer, road racer and triathlete. She completed numerous half marathons, full marathons and several Iron Man events. She is a MRA Hall of Fame inductee and raised tens of thousands of dollars for cancer research.

Joanne died from Glioblastoma Brain Cancer on August 29, 2016 at the age of 36. She is sorely missed.

Marilyn (aka Mouse)

Marilyn is a legend in Winnipeg’s tightly knit running community. Mouse brings high energy and charm to our world.

Much loved and highly admired, this MRA Hall of Fame Inductee, is an inspiration to all who run, walk, or roll by her side. She is a TRL Honorary, life long, crew member.

Joan Swain (Chairperson)

Joan was married to Ted for 36 years. She saw first hand Ted’s love of reading as it impacted upon their two daughters, Kristina and Natalie, and the many students that Ted taught throughout his 37 year teaching career.

She also experienced Ted’s commitment to running as a means to improve health and personal self-fulfillment. Joan trained under Ted’s gentle tutelage and subsequently ran the Toronto Half Marathon with Ted in Oct 2008.

Sadly Ted’s unexpected passing in May 2009 prevented future planned runs together. It is an honor for her to work with the hard working individuals of Ted’s Run for Literacy race crew.

Terri Rosendale (Registration)

Terri was motivated to start running after watching her daughter complete a 5 km event in 2013. At first Terri couldn’t run more than 5 minutes on the treadmill, but soon worked her way up to 20 minutes.

After seeing a friend complete a half-marathon she decided to give it a try. Her friend, who ran out of a Calgary Running Room, told Terri she would meet a lot of great people and get the support she needed if she joined the Running Room. On February 27, 2014 Terri joined the Kenaston Running Room for her first half-marathon clinic.

She completed her first half-marathon that June. She has completed many marathons and half-marathons since those first days on the treadmill.

Terri is the proud mama of two children and she is married to her number one fan, Jeff (deceased in 2024). Terri works full time, she loves home renovations, crafts, and drawing.

Leah Buermeyer (Volunteer Coordinator)

Leah has been looking for ways to contribute to and give back to the Winnipeg community.

The running community in Winnipeg is important to her and literacy programs are a great cause to support, so Ted’s Run for Literacy seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Ryan Warkentin (School Outreach)

Ryan is a very active and dedicated physical education teacher in an inner city school.  He is much loved by his students and staff. We are fortunate to have him on our TRL crew.

Darcie Wadelius (Assistant Site Director)

Darcie has been with TRL since its first race. She fell into running by virtue of joining clinics at the Running Room where Ted mentored many runners who were new to the sport.

She has several half marathons under her belt and would like to try another full marathon one day. She also loves trail running and has met some of the nicest people through the running community.

Michael Bennett (Site Director/ Admin)

Michael is a founding member of Ted’s Run for Literacy. He was a friend of Ted and enjoyed many trails and many miles with this fine gentleman.

He remembers passing Ted at mile one of the 2009 Winnipeg Police Half Marathon. As he passed, Ted yelled “Run Mike, run” to which Michael replied “It’s a good day to be alive.” Later that evening, Ted died from heart complications.

Michael was inducted into the Manitoba Runners’ Association Hall of Fame in 2018 and remains active in Winnipeg’s running scene. His blog, See Mike Run (2008–2023), was well received by Winnipeg’s running community.

Mauricio Alfaro (Course Director)

Mauricio likes many things — summer stuff, winter stuff, food stuff, family stuff, music stuff, and relaxing stuff. Has “food stuff” been mentioned yet?

He has embraced an active lifestyle since 2012, when he accomplished the Manitoba Full Marathon. He looks forward to new challenges and experiences, but making memories with friends and loved ones is the stuff of gold.

In between the adventures, he reminds us to “throw kindness around like confetti” and to never forget Rule Number 32: Enjoy the Little Things. Cheers!