August 14, 2019
Homemade 5K: How one new resident dreamt up a nonprofit
BY DIANE NEWBERRY
It’s said that the name “The Beatles” came to John Lennon in a dream. Terrel Officer took a cue from one of his dreams too, and it was only slightly less ambitious than starting the most successful band of all time.
According to Officer, who bought a summer home in Hideaway Point last year, the idea to start a 5k run from scratch on the land near his housing development seemed like a wild lark, but he couldn’t shake the images that visited him one nighttime in early January.
“I have ideas and I just go for them and I don’t ever really think a lot of things out,” Officer said. ‘Well – sometimes I overthink, but this one felt good.”
Though Officer spent most of his childhood in Minot, he would visit his great uncle on Lake Sakakawea often and wanted to give back.
“Every now and again I’d come down here to my great uncle’s place and I always had to run on the roads and I thought, ‘Man, this place would be so cool if you just made a trail down here,” Officer said.
Not sure where to start, Officer began making the rounds, securing permission from the manager of the housing development, the Corps of Army Engineers, who owned the land, and officials on the county and state level. Along the way, he created his own official nonprofit, ND Rural Races, and was even more surprised when the IRS approved him.
According to Officer, who bought a summer home in Hideaway Point last year, the idea to start a 5k run from scratch on the land near his housing development seemed like a wild lark, but he couldn’t shake the images that visited him one nighttime in early January.
“I have ideas and I just go for them and I don’t ever really think a lot of things out,” Officer said. ‘Well – sometimes I overthink, but this one felt good.”
Though Officer spent most of his childhood in Minot, he would visit his great uncle on Lake Sakakawea often and wanted to give back.
“Every now and again I’d come down here to my great uncle’s place and I always had to run on the roads and I thought, ‘Man, this place would be so cool if you just made a trail down here,” Officer said.
Not sure where to start, Officer began making the rounds, securing permission from the manager of the housing development, the Corps of Army Engineers, who owned the land, and officials on the county and state level. Along the way, he created his own official nonprofit, ND Rural Races, and was even more surprised when the IRS approved him.
