Today we’ll continue with a series on the Montana Running Ranchers relay team. The team will be participating in the Ragnar 200-mile relay event in Hawaii, October 14-15, 2016. The team uses this event as an advocacy opportunity to share the message of beef in a healthy diet and Montana ranching with runners and athletes from across the country. Click here to learn more about this year’s event and team. To support the team or have your brand on the team vans, visit our Square store to donate today.
Today’s featured Montana Running Rancher is Billie Jo Holzer. You can find her on Instagram as @bjholzer.
On any given morning, on the back roads of Central Montana, there’s a good chance you’ll run across Billie Jo and her faithful running companions Scooter and Opal, churning out the miles demanded by one of her favorite pastimes – running. Add her passion for the beef industry and it’s obvious why Team Beef has been such a perfect fit for her. “The opportunity to promote the product and lifestyle I love, in a setting of health, competition and camaraderie is too good to pass up!” This will be Billie Jo’s 5th major relay with the group of industry leaders and producers and it is obvious the passion she has for it.
Billie Jo grew up in Avon, Montana, on the Stucky Ranch, a family outfit steeped in tradition and family values. She does not take lightly the values, work ethic and life lessons that were so deeply ingrained while growing up. “I want my children and following generations to grow up and pass on these core values. We need them to know that we raise a quality product that they can be proud of.”
While she may be 4 hours east of her beloved mountains, Billie Jo has grown to love and appreciate the rolling hills of Central Montana on the Holzer Ranch with her husband Keon and children Grace – 15, Royce – 9, and Grant – 7. She has immersed herself (along with day to day ranch life) in 4-H and the Montana CattleWomen.
Never one to be afraid of a mixed crowd, she loves taking the Beef message to folks who are as foreign to the industry as most of us would be to taking the downtown transit to work every day. The idea of letting folks know that Beef is a high-quality protein and showing them the real people that bring it to them really appeals to her and she feels that this makes Team Beef and the Running Ranchers a very worthwhile investment. “They’re not just buying from the display case, but from real people who care very much about what and how it gets there.”
Billie Jo ran her 7th ½ marathon earlier this fall and picks up smaller races whenever she can.
Aloha, Team Beef!
Sign up to join Team Beef Montana today, or contact your state’s Beef Council to learn about Team Beef programs in your area. Join Team Beef USA on Facebook.
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