SISTER CITIES EXCHANGE

This year, Columbus and Dresden, Germany are celebrating the 32nd anniversary of becoming sister cities, a relationship featuring numerous cultural, educational, athletic and business exchanges.  This will also be the 12th time that each city officially sends representatives to take part in the other’s respective marathon & ½ marathon.

In partnership with Dresden Sister City, Inc., we have selected three runners to represent OUR race at the October 27 Dresden Marathon & ½ Marathon!

Peter Hille

Peter is a seasoned brewer and bartender with experience at various restaurants and breweries in

Columbus and St. Louis. He is currently pursuing a degree in information technology while working at

The North Market in Downtown Columbus. Peter loves meeting visitors and sharing his favorite ways

to experience his city. He ran his first marathon in Columbus in 2022 and plans to continue running

marathons for many years to come. A proud graduate of The Ohio State University, Peter is passionate

about travel and is excited to visit Germany and represent his favorite city, Columbus, as an

ambassador in this exchange program.

 

 

Hannah Holvey

Hannah is a registered nurse currently working in labor & delivery at Riverside Methodist Hospital,

helping to deliver many Columbus babies! She’s an Ohio native and has loved calling Columbus home

for the last 5 years. Hannah has been a runner since joining cross-country in junior high, and has

since enjoyed running several half marathons and one full marathon. She’s spent a few months at a

time abroad in both Haiti and Istanbul, Turkey, and is looking forward to learning all Dresden has to

offer! Building relationships and experiencing culture are life-giving to Hannah, so she’s excited to

stay with a host family for the week to gain an even deeper appreciation for the city and people.

Not to mention build upon the little German she knows (counting to 10 for example!). All in all, she

considers the opportunity to run in Dresden to represent Columbus a gift and honor!

 

 

Julie Kramer

Julie is a lifelong runner and enjoys any distance from the marathon to 800 meters. Her first full marathon

was in Germany when she ran the Hamburg Hansemarathon as an exchange student at the Universität

Hamburg.  She has since run 10 marathons including Columbus, Berlin, Mexico City, Chicago, and Boston.

Julie is a native of Ohio but has lived in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa and speaks German and

Spanish. She started her own consulting business, A2M, several years ago and loves to use these

experiences and her diverse background in international development, environment, and historic

preservation to find unique solutions for her clients in an increasingly connected world. She spends most

Saturdays in spring and fall cheering on her two teenage kids as they compete in track and cross country.

Julie first visited Dresden 30 years ago when she was doing an internship in nearby Chemnitz and is

looking forward to returning 30 years later to see how things have changed.

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Doug McLaughlin

Doug started running in middle school including cross country and track.  He ran his first half

marathon in 2012 and has run 14 since then. He has run the Columbus Nationwide Children’s

Hospital ½ marathon 9 times.  As a general pediatrician at Nationwide Children's Hospital, the

Columbus race is especially meaningful to him. He loves working with families who have come to

Columbus from all over the world as well as helping train new doctors from throughout the country

to become pediatricians.  He has helped coach middle school cross country and track.  Doug and

his family have lived in central Ohio for the past 23 years.  He loves all that central Ohio has to offer

including lots of great running trails.  As a former medical officer in the U.S. Navy, Doug has worked,

lived, and run in many places including Hawaii, Florida, Washington D.C., Okinawa, Mt. Fuji, and

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  He has visited several countries and enjoys exploring new places.  He

looks forward to visiting art museums, exploring the outdoors, and trying lots of different foods in

Dresden.

 

Tiffany Weller

Tiffany is a wife and mom of two boys.  Work after college brought Tiffany to Columbus 10 years ago

and this is where she met her husband and currently works for DSW as a marketing manager in

product marketing and brand partnerships.  Tiffany played soccer along with other sports growing

up, so running has been a part of her life for quite some time but she didn’t start running for the

sport until college.  She ran her first half marathon in 2013 and then ran the Columbus Half Marathon

in 2019.  After losing her youngest son, running has been a physical representation of the endurance,

strength and resiliency that bereaved parents exemplify to get through each and every day.  Tiffany

is an avid traveler, including being an exchange student in high school. She thoroughly enjoys

traveling with her family and experiencing new cultures all around the world.  She is very excited to

experience Germany for the first time!

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Interested in learning more about Dresden Sister Cities, the exchange, or hosting a runner this fall?  Contact Dorit Fratzscher at dresdensistercity@gmail.com