Grandma’s Marathon: Duluth counselor running for her own mental health, and the animals of Ruff Start Rescue

When Angie Adams and her family began raising a rescue border collie mix named Dax, whom they would eventually adopt, in 2018, her future as Adams’ running partner looked bleak. Dax had a broken leg at the time, and the family thought they would have to have it amputated.

Four years later, Dax still has his leg and Adams has his racing partner.

“He could run forever, but because of his old leg injury, I try not to take him more than 3 miles. He does the shorter runs with me,” said Adams, a native of Mound, Minnesota, who now lives in Two Harbors. “He would definitely run until his leg hurt really bad, so we have to be careful what kind of exercise he does.”

Adams and his family took in and adopted Dax through Ruff Start Rescue, a foster-based animal rescue organization based in Princeton, Minnesota. In addition to dogs, Ruff Start Rescue also rescues cats, ferrets, guinea pigs, rabbits, and “other critters.”

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Adams is one of 175 charity runners participating in Grandma’s Marathon weekend races. She is raising money for Ruff Start Rescue by running the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon.

“I love running. Really, for me, it’s a form of self-care,” said Adams, a University of Minnesota Duluth graduate and licensed professional clinical counselor who started her own practice, North Shore Mental Health Services, in Duluth. “Working in the mental health field, I have to make sure I take care of myself. For me, it’s a good time to be outside and process my own thoughts and feelings and help me feel strong. And an excuse to be outside, for sure.”

After playing soccer and running track growing up, Adams said he started running distance in 2008. That’s when he first ran the Bjorklund. She has run the half marathon on Grandma’s weekend 6 to 7 times, she said, but only ran the full marathon once.

“I don’t think my body is completely built. I won’t do it again,” said Adams, who has also run half marathons at Stillwater and Fargo, but the Bjorklund is his favorite race every year. “Nothing beats the crowds and views here. It’s where I live too, so it’s nice and convenient.”

In addition to Dax, who is now 5 years old, Adams has two other dogs: a 13-year-old border collie mix named Rudy and a newly adopted 8-month-old pinscher/dachshund mix named Lulu.

Like Dax, Lulu came to Adams as a Ruff Start Rescue foster, though the family did not plan to adopt Lulu, who was a stray from the Houston area. Adams began breeding puppies for Ruff Start Rescue in January, and is currently on her seventh foster dog since then.

“I have started. I always wanted to be adopted,” said Adams, who along with her husband have two sons, ages 5 and 8. “I was hoping that my kids would get a little older to have more free time and that they could be a little more helpful with that. The time was right. I’ve been working from home more this past year, so it worked out.”

Adams and her family have been raising puppies, who typically stay with the family for 1-3 weeks before being adopted. Ruff Start Rescue posts animals in need of foster care online, and families choose the animals that best fit their situation.

Adams has to travel from Two Harbors to Princeton to pick up the dogs, however Ruff Start Rescue provides foster families with bedding, toys, food, medicine and any other supplies the animal needs, making sure the foster not be a financial burden on families. Adams said.

“I really, really appreciate the amount of support they give to their foster homes,” Adams said. “Communication is great. It feels super supportive. There are Facebook groups that really keep you in touch with other foster homes. If you have any questions, someone is always available. It felt really good going into this uncharted territory. Knowing that if something happened, I felt that people were going to catch me if I fell. That’s what I really like about Ruff Start.”

Many of the animals in the care of Ruff Start Rescue hail from Texas. Some come from shelters in Louisiana. They also accept animals from all over Minnesota. Adams has received dogs from reserves in South Dakota.

Meaghan Dubbs, transportation partnership specialist for Ruff Start Rescue, said the organization works with about 30 shelters and 12 rescue partners. Two buses a month bring a combined 50-65 dogs from Houston to Minnesota a month. Dogs stay in foster care in Texas for 2-4 weeks before being transported to ensure they are healthy and ready to travel.

Animals are posted on the Ruff Start Rescue website in advance. Dubbs said the hope is that all of them will be adopted or fostered to adopt early, but if not, they go to foster homes. Ruff Start Rescue does not house dogs in Princeton.

Dubbs said there are always more animals than foster or forever homes.

“I probably get pleas for thousands of animals every week,” said Dubbs, who works primarily with animals in Texas. “We turn down a lot because we just don’t have the capacity to take all the animals with us.”

Adams said that if people are considering raising animals, now is a good time to step into the role with the pandemic slowing. Many people are deciding that pets are too much and other foster families have given up due to their busy schedules.

Adopting foster dogs triggers a variety of emotions, but sending best friends to new families is a great feeling, Adams said.

“It’s hard. It’s frustrating. It’s beautiful. It’s fun,” said Adams. a home. It’s a mixed bag of emotions, but I found it very rewarding to be this safe place in these dogs’ journey.”