Rick Recker in his usual spot, at the head of the pack of runners. (Provided)
For more than two years after his death, family and friends of a Minneapolis athletic legend have searched for a way to honor him and his accomplishments. Over the past few months, they have lobbied staff members of the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB) in hopes of getting recognition by naming a portion of the Mississippi River trail after him.
That legend was Richard “Rick” Recker, one of the most durable distance and marathon runners in Minnesota history, who played an integral role in raising the sport to its present level. A former president of the Minnesota Association of USA Track & Field and the Minnesota Distance Running Association, Recker served for much of his career as the state’s course-certifying official, and worked year-round as a track official for high school, college and open meets.
Recker was an intramural champion at the University of Minnesota, and he competed in more than 2,800 races, measured 634 and certified 1,485 courses. He set up and ran the Dome Running program, sponsored by Minnesota Distance Running Association, which allowed runners to use the Metrodome for inside running during bad weather, charging a dollar a runner. The program ran for 31 years, ending when the stadium was closed in 2014.
Recker then started a new running program at US Bank Stadium. Former U of M and Green Bay Packer fullback Darrell Thompson, current president of the nonprofit Bolder Options, recalled that Recker allowed his youth groups to run at no charge at the Metrodome in the mid-’90s.
Thompson called Recker “The Walter Payton of marathon runners,” adding that his ability to run every day was “incredible, but even more was his passion and commitment to the community … he was a great family man and a tremendous advocate and ambassador for running.” Thompson added, “Recker always looked good and had a six-pack till the day he died.”
Recker received a lifetime achievement award and Hall of Fame honors once from Grandma’s Marathon Hall of Fame, once from the Minnesota Track and Field Hall of Fame and twice from the Minnesota Distance Running Association.
Four months after Recker’s death, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared June 3, 2022, Rick Recker Day. The declaration recognized Recker’s achievements as a runner and as an engaged Minneapolis citizen who “wanted running to be fun and available to everyone, as evidenced by the projects he took on, including advocating and networking with Bolder Options.”
Rick’s daughter Stephanie Ziebarth said he made a living as an independent athletic contractor, measuring courses and refereeing events. “He lived very frugally,” she said. He was an early downtown resident, a follower of the local jazz scene and a world traveler — he visited nearly 70 countries.
Before a preliminary vote at the April 16 MPRB meeting, Ziebarth acknowledged that Minneapolis trails are not typically named after people.
“Dad got out of bed before the sun, laced up his running shoes and ran in the grass along the river gradually wearing that grass into a dirt trail, which others began to use as well. He ran it almost daily for more than 30 years, literally creating the path under discussion tonight.
Recker running in the ‘80s. (Provided)
“He wished the trail to be named the Recker trail as a family legacy, but all of those of us in the family unanimously agree it should be the Rick Recker trail because he is the one who created it and earned the legacy within the park system and the running community of Minneapolis. We respectfully request that you honor this legacy, but most significant to everyone, including my dad, would be the inspiration the story of the trail would offer to the Minneapolis parks patrons.
“I am here tonight to help bring about his dying wish that the trail he created with his own two feet over decades of running in Minneapolis would bear his family name.”
State Senator Doron Clark also supported the naming, adding, “He understood how running and especially trails connect all of us. Perhaps that’s why he ran everywhere and helped both formally and informally figure out where trails on the river should and shouldn’t be. He’s been running the river since the 1950s and we can all be proud to put Rick’s name on the trail.”
Clark said he himself runs with Mill City Running most days, and recalls meeting Recker years ago at a Flapjack Friday run.
Clark said, “Recker suspected that the city just followed him around, paving trails along the Mississippi River. He told me that he’d been running along the river since the late 1950s and figured out the best paths along the river and across the river, including railroad track. So, the city just put in paved paths wherever he’d been running.”
Clark said he introduced Recker’s family to the Minneapolis Parks Foundation liaison and they and close friends have done the work to tell Rick’s story. Clark has testified twice at Minneapolis Park meetings about how Rick represents the values of the Minneapolis Park Board: “Rick looked to create opportunities for everyone to compete and participate before we had the words to describe inclusion. He just did it.”
At the July 2 meeting, the 2025-129 resolution was read: “The Board of Commissioners direct staff to work with the nominator to develop a proposal for board approval that will recognize the importance of the running community to the riverfront and honor the legacy of Rick Recker without naming a park or park asset for a specific individual, in lieu of approving the Rick Recker east bank trail nomination.”
Ziebarth later responded to the MPRB’s proposal. “Our family is agreeable to this turn of events. While, as the literal creator of the trail, we hope Dad’s name can be included somehow, we know Dad’s life and heart were supportive of the running community, and that he would be thrilled if that community is elevated through the development of this trail. It would be even more significant if people would be inspired to run as a result of this process.”