NDN Half Marathon: Fluehr sisters, former Community School of Naples stars, back for race

Twin sisters Kathryn and Erika Fluehr have been inseparable most of their lives.

They finished first and second at the Class 1A cross country meet their final two years of high school, with Kathryn beating Erika as juniors, and Erika returning the favor in their senior year.

They both competed collegiately at Princeton University, although injuries kept them from racing together other than a handful of times.

After completing their undergrad work and receiving their Master’s degrees in the spring – Kathryn at University of New Mexico and Erika at the University of Michigan – they’re now living 1,800 miles apart.

Kathryn recently completed an internship for a wealth management firm in Boulder, Colorado, where she’s now looking for a job – hopefully in strategy or business development. Boulder is a hot spot in the technology world, so she’s optimistic something will materialize in the coming months. Erika is working full-time in New York City for Riskified, a software company that deals in fraud prevention.

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The sisters, now 24, still talk on the phone at least once a day, and often that discussion turns to what remains their passion – competitive running. The Fluehrs will be in town this weekend to compete in the Naples Daily News Half Marathon, their second half marathon in two months.

“We always volunteered at this race when we were in high school with coach Cassie (Barone), handing out water to the runners,” Erika said by phone earlier this week. “I’m really excited to run it, number one, for the good weather. I won’t have to worry about it being 10 degrees with 20 mile-per-hour winds like it’s been here in New York.”

Erika says she and her sister look forward to running down Gordon Drive in Naples, like they did so many times over the last several years while visiting their father James, who still owns a home in town. Their mother Mary Kathryn passed away in 2016.

“It’s very familiar to us,” Erika said. “One of my good friends from high school, Lauren Rauskauskas (a former teammate at Community School) is running in the race, and I look forward to meeting with coach Cassie sometime for coffee this weekend. And after the race, we both plan to go to the beach for the rest of the day, so that will be nice.”

The Fleuhrs began their love for running in eighth grade when they came out for the cross country team.

“At the time, basketball was our main sport,” Kathryn recalled. “We started running to get in shape for basketball. We continued playing basketball through 10th grade but soon realized we weren’t getting any better at basketball, but we were becoming pretty good runners, so we began taking (running) more seriously and eventually made that our focus.”

Barone recalled those early days, when she had a tough time telling the twins apart until she devised a subtle, but foolproof system.

“I noticed Kathryn had a freckle on one ear, so each day, I’d get close enough to see the freckle,” Barone said. “Then I’d make a mental note, 'OK Kathryn’s wearing the green shirt and Erika is wearing the red shirt,' so I could tell from far away. But after a few weeks, I noticed differences in their running strides, so I didn’t have to find the freckle anymore.”

Through their high school years, Kathryn had a slight upper hand in most races. As sophomores, Kathryn finished third with Erika right behind in fourth place. During their junior season, Kathryn won the state championship with Erika in second. The senior year in 2010 seemed like it was going to play out like the others before, with Kathryn entering the state race as the favorite with Erika expected to again finish close behind.

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This was so ingrained in peoples’ minds at the race, the announcer made the wrong call as the runners headed down the stretch.

“The announcer said something like ‘And coming in for her second straight state championship, it’s Kathryn Fluehr,’" Barone said. “Meanwhile, I’m waving my arms, screaming to anyone who would listen, ‘No, it’s Erika, it’s Erika.’"

Kathryn admitted she experienced a range of emotions yet ultimately became elated for her sister.

“Don’t get me wrong, I really wanted to win,” she said. “So on one hand, I was upset that I didn’t win. But if there’s anyone you’d like to lose to, it would be your twin sister. That competition between us has always been very friendly. It’s made us closer and we’ve always pushed each other to do better.”

The sisters admitted they’d both like to run full marathons one day, and that they’d also like to qualify for the 2020 Olympic marathon trials. They are both being coached by Laura Bowerman, an assistant cross country coach at New Mexico, where Kathryn ran as a grad student last season. Bowerman helped the sisters get ready for their first half-marathon in Monterey, California, in November.

As they each have been preparing under the same workout routine, they keep tabs on each other daily.

“We’ll text right before or right after we’re doing the workout, and even though we’re so far away in different time zones, it’s like we’re right there doing it together,” Erika said. “We didn’t get to run together as much at Princeton as we would have hoped, so we’re really happy to be running together again. We’re super close, like a lot of twins are. She’s my best friend and my training partner.”

And with races planned throughout the year together, the distance apart doesn’t seem so great.

“In a way, these races are just an excuse to hang out together,” Kathryn said. “We try to see each other every month anyway, but preparing for these races brings us even closer together.”

Naples Daily News Half Marathon

When: 7 a.m. Sunday

Where: Starting line on Fifth Avenue South; finish line near Eighth Street South and Sixth Avenue South

Cost: $100 through Saturday; $125 on race day

More details: napleshalfmarathon.net