The Oak Harbor Charity Runners is really an Oak Harbor charity runner — Curtis Vieke.
Vieke, with some recent help from Dena Royal, is the founder and lone member of the group, but that hasn’t stopped him from promoting several runs in the area to help raise money for worthy causes.
Vieke said, “I’m still trying to figure out what it will become. Should I make it a nonprofit organization or just be a pseudo-promoter?” Regardless, he wants to help raise funds through his passion of running.
The Navy brought Vieke to Oak Harbor in 1998. When deployed to Turkey in ’99, he organized a run there to help raise money for an animal shelter, and that began his journey of helping others.
Over the next 10 years he put together three runs in Oak Harbor and then recently resolved to form Oak Harbor Charity Runners and do monthly races.
“This year I decided that Oak Harbor was going to be my home, and asked myself what I could do to make my home a better place,” he said.
“I think we have a large number of charities here, and we have people who like to run and participate. Currently there are only three runs in the area, so I don’t think I am crowding the market.”
He added, “I want to bring the community together with fitness.”
So far Vieke has promoted five monthly runs starting in March, skipping April because of the Whidbey Marathon. The Help House, WAIF, the Oak Harbor fireworks fund, Boys and Girls Club and the Oak Harbor High School cross country team have been the recipients of the money raised from of the races.
All of the profits from the races go to the causes, Vieke said. He covers the expenses, such as race T-shirts, out of his pocket.
The races have raised an average of $185 per event with a high of 19 participants.
Vieke said he may scale back his original plans of holding a race each month from March to September and sponsor fewer events that can be run in conjunction with other social functions, such as the annual pig roast.
“Once a month might be a bit of overkill.”
He recently met with the Downtown Merchants Association and may hold a run down rebuilt Pioneer Way when the street project is completed in October.
He may also expand beyond Oak Harbor, and has been in contact with Greenbank Farms about a run there this month.
Vieke is considering other ways to make his runs more enjoyable, such as having themes, including a costume run near Halloween.
Vieke wasn’t always a runner. He concentrated on soccer growing up in Mulino, Ore., and then turned to running as a way to control his weight.
One of his commanding officers in the Navy suggested he train for a marathon to help focus his conditioning. He eventually ran in three, but probably will not enter another: “They were not fun.”
Today his prefers triathlons, though he enjoys the three skills (swimming, biking and running) more than the events.
Vieke urges anyone interested in helping with the Oak Harbor Charity Runners to contact him at charityrunners@aol.com. He has also set up an Oak Harbor Charity Runners page on Facebook.
