Former St. Thomas football player and coach Mark Dowdle completed a 160-mile run in 43 hours from the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, Minnesota to St. Thomas’ O’Shaughnessy Stadium Sunday, with former teammate Blake Weber joining him for the final 58 miles, in an effort to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer.
Laurie Weber, Blake Weber’s mother, died in August after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Dowdle organized the Laurie Weber Legacy Fund, where he has raised more than $8,500 on GoFundMe since July 17.
Emily Weber, Blake Weber’s sister, noted that Dowdle has been connected to her family for many years.
“He’s a pretty good friend,” Emily Weber said. “They played football together here so that’s how they met, and Mark has spent a few Thanksgivings with our family because he’s not from around here.”
Friends and family gathered at the stadium to congratulate Dowdle, and some joined him for a celebratory lap around the track.
Dowdle gave a brief statement to the crowd upon arrival.
“It’s just a testament to our culture and the strength of that, so thank you guys because I’m just the crazy person that ran it, but without all of you this wouldn’t be a thing,” Dowdle said.
Dowdle began training two and a half months ago, but he never ran more than 15 miles at a time, and Blake Weber had only logged 10 miles before Sunday.
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“I love these men, and I know somewhere Laurie is so damn proud of each one of us,” Dowdle wrote on an Instagram post. “Blake reminded me of a quote and and I’ll end with this, ‘to live on in the hearts of others is to never die in those we leave behind.’”
Blake Weber’s father, John Weber, and Dowdle’s friend and former teammate, Andrew Inserra also followed Dowdle during his run in a van.
At the halfway point in Hinckley, Minnesota, Dowdle emphasized that Inserra was the driving force that kept him running on Saturday night.
“Andrew didn’t sleep at all that night, it was a lot of sacrifice,” Dowdle said. “It’s great that you can rely on people that you love in your life to help you through such a big event like this.”
John Weber brought his dogs for support and ran over 25 miles alongside Dowdle.
In January 2019, John Weber created a website for supporters to donate and purchase Love Like Laurie merchandise, with proceeds going to support the Weber family. But in June 2020, Laurie Weber decided to stop accepting donations and they turned Love Like Laurie into a charity, with all proceeds going towards pancreatic research and helping local families affected by cancer.
On the Love Like Laurie charity page, John Weber wrote, “We will now give back what so many generous people gave to Laurie and our family.”
Dowdle explained his love and dedication to Laurie’s legacy.
“That’s really what it means to me, is just this family and building a community of love through Laurie Weber and really putting energy into something that’s going to let her name live on forever, opposed to mourning a loss,” Dowdle said.
John Weber said that he feels Love Like Laurie lives through Dowdle.
“I’m in awe of what he’s doing; the generosity and the hustle is just unbelievable, and we’re just lucky that he wanted to help us,” John Weber said. “My wife loved everybody in a huge way and I think that inspired Mark. Mark’s a lot like my wife, he loves people the same way, he says he’s inspired but I think he was already there.”
Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.