By Dan Ninham
Sidney Kingbird-Haugen is an enrolled Red Lake Band member. His Indian name is “Waabizheshi” which means Pine Martin. He was active in Bemidji High School varsity track, football, and cross country. He’s attending the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities and plans to study economics and business law.
“In sports and life, I’ve always followed the seven grandfather teachings of the Anishinaabe,” said Sidney Kingbird-Haugen. “Humility and respect have always been important in competition.”
Kingbird-Haugen talked about the connection to some of the seven grandfather teachings. He said, “Honesty is huge in training. Being honest with myself and my coaches to figure out what’s best for me is the only way to successfully train. Bravery is huge for the marathon as it’s hard for anyone to not back down when you have a solo 18 mile training run or on race day when you have to endure the 26 miles of pain.”
“My top athletic accomplishments have been competing at the state meet in cross country, making the 800 lb. club in weight lifting, and successfully running my first marathon,” said Kingbird-Haugen.
He was among the 20,000 finishers at the 2024 edition of Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN. According to the website, Grandma’s Marathon has turned into a world class event.
“My top academic accomplishments are being awarded the academic letter at Bemidji High School and being awarded the Herbert E. Olson scholarship from the University of Minnesota,” added Kingbird-Haugen.
“One of my mentors has been Richard Toward as he’s encouraged me to pursue greatness in not only academics but also athletics,” said Kingbird-Haugen. “He has also sparked my passion for economics which I’ll be studying at the U.”
“Economics is a daunting subject for many but when Sidney Kingbird-Haugen walked into my college level Macroeconomics class his second semester of his senior year I knew he would be up to the test,” said Rick Toward. “I have watched this young man work his way through his high school years in the classroom, running the trail and on the football field with a dedication and commitment to excellence.”
“I first saw Sid’s desire to take on a new challenge during his junior year when he showed up at tryouts for the soccer team. He had been a varsity cross country runner the previous fall and wanted to continue to run but also play on the soccer team,” added Toward.
“In the end, when Sidney was selected for a team, his excitement was tempered by the fact that he was going to have to choose one sport over the other,” said Toward. “Participating in both soccer and cross country at the same time was not going to work, there were simply too many conflicts in the schedules. In the end, he thanked me for the opportunity but had chosen to run.”
All marathon runners have stories to tell from start to finish and all points in between. Kingbird-Haugen is no different.
“Training for my first marathon was tough,” said Kingbird-Haugen. “On my first run over 15 miles, I thought I had gotten a stress fracture and couldn’t walk without an extreme limp. I went to the hospital and got an X-ray and was lucky enough that it wasn’t a break.”
“I did about five runs between 16-18 miles in my training and only ran three times a week to avoid injury,” said Kingbird-Haugen. “I have been very injury prone in my career.”
“Eight weeks later it was race day. I woke up at 3:45 AM and drove to the area that would take me to the race start. It was a chilly day, 52° and rainy, but it felt great once I started to get going. I took running gels every 40 minutes and made sure to stay hydrated at drink stations. At around 18 miles I was shocked thinking there’s no way I could run over eight more miles but I finished remembering how many hours I had put into this and that I wouldn’t waste such an amazing opportunity,” added Kingbird-Haugen.
Kingbird-Haugen said, “I’m striving to do well enough to attend a top tier law school and become an attorney.”
