John Steindorf and his wife, Beth, are enthusiastic about keeping physically fit, and they want to make sure their children have the same attitude about exercise.

To practice that philosophy and instill that on their children, they competed in the Eighth Annual 3 Rivers/ Granddad Bluff 5 K Run/Walk in La Crosse on May 7.

“This is the second year my wife and I ran in the event. We ran in it a couple years ago, but this time we wanted our whole family involved.

In recent years, John has put a renewed emphasis on staying in shape. A few years ago, he was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer. And recently, he had a double tear in the meniscus in his knee.

“I used to be a jogger and, eight years ago, I used to run 10 miles a day,” John said. 

His son, William, never ran in a 5K before, so he was a little apprehensive, he said. During the run, he stayed with John for a while, but got antsy and decided to take off faster. John didn’t see him until the end, when he learned William earned a second place finish in his age category, 34th overall. His time for 5K was 22:58.

John finished 121 of 389 entries and 9th in his age group with a time of 26:34. His wife, Beth, and daughter, Olivia, walked for a portion of the event, so they didn’t look up their finish ranking or times.

During the run, John and Beth wore their Ho-Chunk “Save the Mounds” tee shirts. They all said they were happy to have entered the run.

“It’s a real healthy thing to do,” John said. “I’m glad we did it.”