A crowd of runners gathered at Washburn University Student Recreation & Wellness Center, at 8 a.m., on Sept. 1, to run a 5k in honor of Dave and Marcia Provorse.
The Sunflower Striders, a local running club, hosts the Labor Your Legs run, every year on Labor Day. This year’s 5k event was in memory of Dave and Marcia Provorse, who passed away unexpectedly, in a car crash in Dec. 2024.
Tracy Wagner, Washburn associate professor of biology, is a member of the Sunflower Striders.
“Because of the Provorse’s commitment to running and the community, and they had intersected with the Striders, we wanted to make this in memory of them this year,” Wagner said.
There was a scrapbook available to view containing many pictures and articles of the Provorses that demonstrated their deep commitment to running.
“We’re here to memorialize what my mother and father thought of as bringing people together and prioritizing physical fitness,” said Amanda Strassburg, the daughter of the Provorses.
Dave Provorse spent 34 years working for the Washburn psychology department. He and his wife, Marcia Provorse, were also big advocates of running and fitness.
“My dad always encouraged running at a conversational pace,” said Strassburg, “He wanted people to stay alert and aware and connected. Although running is often seen as an independent activity, he wanted people to have a united experience.”
In 1996, Dave Provorse collaborated with the Washburn physical education department to create a marathon training class, which helped students learn how to tackle long distance running. He also took students to Lincoln Nebraska, to complete the annual Lincoln marathon.
Registration for the event was free. However, any donations raised will purchase a memorial statue that will be placed on the Shunga Trail in honor of the Provorses.
Remaining funds will go towards a scholarship established by the Provorses for psychology students obtaining a masters degree.
Strassburg acknowledged during the event that they had raised enough money for a memorial.
“This event means everything to me. To be able to come home to Topeka, where I grew up, and see people from my parent’s lives throughout all of the phases, and people from my life, show up for us and my parents in this way is just incredible,” Strassburg said.
Strassburg spoke to the runners at the starting line, before the event began.
“Each of you here has contributed to healing our hurt. There is power in communities united by pain and there is celebration in communities united in joy,” Strassburg said. “Together we have the capacity to heal each other’s broken hearts. By sharing our stories and supporting one another, and staying connected, we can be sure that their legacy lives on.”
Through their years of running races around the country, the Provorses had earned an impressive amount of race shirts and medals.
Strassburg made the decision to share her parents’ large collection of shirts and medals with the participants of the 5k.
Loralea Hubert, a close friend to Strassburg, handed out medals as people crossed the finish line.
“All these shirts were Dave and Marcia’s, from marathons and races that they ran throughout the nation,” Hubert said. “Amanda wanted everybody to just take a little piece of [Dave and Marcia] home.”
Strassburg, who now resides in Colorado, was moved by the turnout of the event.
“It makes me feel like people are recognizing them for the humans that they were, the impact that they had on Washburn University and this community as a whole,” Strassburg said. “Their lives shined so brightly here in Topeka and in Nebraska and in Colorado. So having everyone come together for this, is just a culmination of exactly who they were and what they loved.”
Edited by Arohi Rai and Stuti Khadka
