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.

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.

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 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!