Hero: Blair Bonnerup

Secret identity: cross country and track and field athlete

Base of operations: Albert Lea High School

Superpowers: Bonnerup, a ninth-grader at ALHS, runs 30 to 40 miles per week as a member of the cross country and track and field teams. Assistant cross country coach Lon Nelson said Bonnerup is extremely committed to the team and improving himself.

“He’s always there,” Nelson said. “He knows how to get better and that he has to run consistently and he has to push himself. When he’s running, he’s always running with the seniors and juniors, trying to stay up with them.”

Kryptonite: Bonnerup said it’s hard to start up running at first, but if you keep at it, eventually it gets easier.

“When you first start running, you can get really sore,” Bonnerup said.

Affiliations: father, Doug; mother, Jodi; twin brother, Brandon; older brothers, Judd and Spencer.

Origin: Bonnerup, 15, who has been running since he was in fifth grade, said his family and his twin brother, Brandon, got him into running.

“My brother tried it, and I tried it and liked it, and I just kept at it and kept doing it,” Bonnerup said. “Now the coaches really motivate me to keep at it.”

Head cross country coach Jim Haney said Bonnerup has an incredible work ethic.

“He is goal driven, and he wants to do the best he possibly can,” Haney said. “You have to like pain. It’s that mental edge that puts Blair a little bit apart from his competitors. It’s that mental toughness that he has.”