Robin Balder-Lanoue has a long, impressive coaching resume. From high school conference championships to collegiate All-Americans, Balder-Lanoue has been helping her athletes find success for more than 25 years.
But to Balder-Lanoue – who is still a competitive runner and manages an incredibly successful relay team – running isn’t just about finding success on the course or on the track.
When reflecting on her career – most of which has been spent as the head cross country and track and field coach at the College of Saint Benedict – Balder-Lanoue is most proud of the confidence that she has helped instill in the women she coaches. And it’s not just the Bennies who have benefited from Balder-Lanoue’s coaching.
After running for Saint Benedict in college and then competing in road races following graduation, Balder-Lanoue – who finished 15th at the 1996 Twin Cities Marathon – co-founded Baba Yaga, an all-women’s relay team, in 1995. The group has had more than 40 different members since its inception, but they all have the same goal – to run together and to win, breaking barriers along the way.
Each year, Balder-Lanoue and her various Baba Yaga teammates compete in a 12-woman relay – whether it’s the Hood to Coast relay on the West Coast, Reach the Beach in New England or the Ragnar Minnesota Relay – and each year, they continue to find success. The team won the Hood to Coast eight times. They set the women’s Masters and Submasters records. Then, they switched races – and continued to win.
They were the first all-women’s team by almost two hours at the Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage in 2015, and in 2021, they were the first all-women’s team to cross the finish line at the Ragnar Minnesota Relay – by more than four hours.
But winning isn’t the most important piece for Balder-Lanoue or her teammates. It’s the community and the support that comes from running 200 miles in less than 30 hours with 12 women, and the confidence that comes from setting and achieving goals on the course – no matter where you are in life.