Bobby Crim

Bobby Crim, Founder

Bobby Crim’s career began in a classroom in Davison in 1960. On a path of public service, education and advocacy, Bobby’s interests and energies led him to the state legislature, where he served for over 20 years, eight of them as Speaker of the House of Representatives. He has also been a businessman, serving as President and Partner of GCSI in Lansing from 1982 to 1994, and he is a current Michigan State University Board of Trustees Emeritus.

Bobby was state House Speaker in the spring of 1976 when he was invited to attend a track meet for the Michigan Special Olympics. What he saw that day inspired him to organize what is now the nationally-ranked Crim Festival of Races, featuring the premier 10-mile running event in the country. Since then Bobby has remained an active advocate of physical activity for all. He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including the Special Olympics Michigan President’s Award. He was inducted into the Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and received the Vern Seefeldt Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 from the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness for his work promoting healthy lifestyles and physical activity.

The vision of the Crim Fitness Foundation, the non-profit organization bearing his name, brings the Crim full circle–improving the lives of young people was the aim of the first race, and the Foundation’s vision takes that one step further—to improve the lives of all our citizens through increased awareness of the importance of being physically active, and the revitalization and redefinition of Flint and the greater Genesee County community as a center of excellence for health and fitness.