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Wee gets his own race

By James Daly '13
April 21, 2011

David Wee '61, who remains an active runner, leads a ceremonial lap after Augustana's David Wee 5000 Meter Race was named in his honor.

Fifty years ago Professor Emeritus of English David Wee '61 walked off the track at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, having accomplished a feat that has yet to be repeated. For the third year in a row he had won both the mile and two-mile races at the Viking Olympics, a track meet of all the Lutheran/Scandinavian colleges in the Midwest.

In the lead-up to the 70th running of the Viking Olympics this year, Wee’s feat was rediscovered. Realizing that it was the 50th anniversary of his double-threepeat — and that this achievement has never been matched — event organizers decided to rename the 5K the David Wee 5000 Meter Race. At a ceremony during the meet, the organizers presented Wee with a trophy and a framed proclamation. "It was a wonderful event, and a fine way for one sister college to pay tribute to someone from another college," Wee says. "I'm still smiling about it all."

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.