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The Roadrunner Story
The name pays tribute to Anna's aunt, the late Shelley Ann Smith. She was one of the early trailblazers for women’s athletics. She played basketball, ran track, and was on the fencing team at Western Illinois in the days before Title IX. Sports opened a whole new world of personal expression for her, and she dedicated her career to growing women’s sports as a PE teacher and Track and Field coach. She once told Anna the farthest she ever ran was 14 miles,
“and that was before women were really doing that sort of thing.”
She called herself the Western Illinois Roadrunner. She had a bright blue roadrunner tattooed on her forearm, a bold display for an otherwise modest woman. She said she’d gotten it to cover a scar. A multitude of health issues prevented her from reaching all of her athletic goals, but she continued to do all she could to encourage the next generation of female athletes. She was Anna's biggest fan. Our work is dedicated to her and the women like her who had to face seemingly insurmountable obstacles on the quest for equity in sports.
At Roadrunner our mission is to continue that quest.
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