4 hours and 40 minutes of freedom: A man just out of prison finds meaning during the Twin Cities Marathon
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Andre Anderson has been training to run in the Twin Cities Marathon for about a decade, but he didn’t know it at the time. In prison, he ran for exercise and mental health.
After his release two months ago, friends at the nonprofit Mile in My Shoes surprised him with two running gifts: they promised to sponsor him in the City of Lakes Half Marathon last month and Sunday’s Twin Cities Marathon.
Anderson and running mentor Steve English, with Mile in My Shoes, crossed the finish line for the 26-mile race in front of the Minnesota State Capitol just before 1 p.m.
“I don’t care about what’s going on in life when I’m running. I don’t care about paying bills or the pressures of the world. I can be free,” Anderson said. “Today, for four hours and 40 minutes, I was free.”
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Anderson, 38, said every time he thought about how much his legs hurt, “some little kid would put their hand out for a high five and got us all the way through.”
Seeing those kids was a full circle moment for Anderson. As a kid, he volunteered at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth.
English said Anderson’s positive attitude during the race was contagious. “He looked me in the eyes at mile 25 and said, ‘I think we got this,’” said English. They walked on and off near the end of the race, “but we did not walk that last mile.”
This is the second marathon Anderson has run, the first was Grandma’s Marathon in 2009 before he was incarcerated. He said he wanted to prove to himself that he could still do it.
“The first one was important, but this one felt 10 times better,” he said.
Andre Anderson served more than a decade behind bars, first in jail and then in state prisons. He was convicted of second-degree attempted murder in connection with a stabbing near Duluth in 2014. Anderson fought the conviction, arguing the photo lineup process that identified him was faulty. Anderson lost on appeal but maintains his innocence.
He said when he turned 30 years old in prison, he had a change in attitude. “Everybody’s dealt tough hands in life,” Anderson said. “I chose to accept it and take all that anger and frustration with how things happen and turn that into a desire to run.”
At Lino Lakes prison, Anderson founded Running for Change in 2021 and invited others to join. Every Saturday, the club would do a 5K run by running loops in the prison yard. Members took turns picking a cause to run for. Anderson said one runner’s mother died of breast cancer, so the club members made pink bracelets out of yarn and everyone wore them during the run that day.
At the club’s peak, Anderson said about 19 men participated in a Saturday run. Anderson said the club was a way to bring some of the excitement and camaraderie of a marathon to men in prison.
He saw running give the men around him hope. “I think when you can encourage people, they’ll be their best,” Anderson said.
Because of his dedication to the sport, other prisoners gave him nicknames: Running Man, Machine and Cheetah.
“I’ve leaned into that,” he said.
Running for Change doesn’t exist anymore, but Anderson continues to use his leadership and mentorship skills during his work release today. Anderson works for Metro State University as a reentry coordinator for students recently released from prison. He is also a part-time student enrolled in Metro State’s Master of Advocacy and Political Leadership program.
At the Twin Cities Marathon, Anderson said he’s still running for a cause. His mother has leukemia and couldn’t attend the marathon in person. But she called Anderson before the race to encourage him. He wore a pin with an orange ribbon on his race shirt in honor of her.
“This is way more than me just running a race. It’s a testament to all the people in my life who've helped me get here,” Anderson said.
Anderson and English are planning to run again together soon.
“I’ve always said that there’s a million reasons not to run, and when I wake up, all I gotta do is find one reason to run. If I can do that, I’ll get through it,” he said.
