Dan Held was one of the premier distance runners in Blugold history, but like many in that sport may have reached his prime after he left UWEC.

The Mequon Homestead prep earned three varsity letters in cross country and earned All-Conference honors in each of those seasons, finishing fifth in the 1986 conference meet, fourth in the 1987 meet and third in the 1988 race. In 1987 he went on to place 10th at the NAIA Nationals in Kenosha. As a senior, he placed 16th to earn All-American honors for a second straight year.

In track, he set the conference record in the 5,000-meter race at the 1988 indoor meet and won the same event by 21 seconds at the outdoor meet. He came close to a double gold at the outdoor meet, losing the 10,000-meter race by five seconds. During the 1987 and 1988 seasons, he placed first, second or third in seven events at the conference indoor and outdoor meets.

He became the first Blugold NCAA track All-American when he placed fourth in the 5,000-meter race at the 1987 indoor nationals with a school record time of 14:35.56. He broke the school record again with a 14:27.21 clocking when he placed third at the 1988 indoor nationals. That year, he was was the national runnerup at the outdoor meet in the 5K race.

Held still has UWEC's top indoor time in the 5K, the top indoor time in the 3K and the fifth best time in the 1500-meter run.

He graduated from UWEC in 1989 with a business economics degree. He raced professionally from 1990-2001 and competed in the Olympic trials, USA National meets and was a six-time member of the World Track and Field teams that took him to Brussels, Belgium; Oslo, Norway; Mt. Belhard, France; Cape Town, South Africa; Athens, Greece; and Winschoten, Holland.

Held won the USA 50-mile national championship in 2000. He was runnerup in the 1997 USA National 10K Road Championship and the 1996 USA National 1/2 marathon Championship. He ran the second fastest USA time for 100K (62 miles) with a 6:33:30 clocking in 2000. He placed seventh in the 1996 Olympic marathon trials after placing 13th in 1992. He also placed 13th in the 1996 Olympic 5K trials.

Held is currently employed with St. Paul Travelers Insurance in Brookfield, Wisconsin as a senior claims specialist. He was a senior claims rep with Kemper Insurance for three years, a senior risk management analyst with Waukesha County for three years and a senior claims rep with Liberty Mutual for seven years. He is a volunteer assistant coach with the Hartland Arrowhead High School cross country team.

Held and his wife Janell, a purchasing manager, have three children: Hailey (9), Maggie (6) and Samuel (2).

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