On the run at the fairgrounds

By HOLLY PASZCZYNSKA

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Hundreds of youngsters converged on the Kootenai County Fairgrounds Thursday, ready to run a 1-mile lap and hopefully, outpace their peers.

The 28th-annual school district-wide track meet attracted about 800 second- through fifth-grade students from 11 Coeur d’Alene public schools.

The grandstands were packed with families there to support their little runners. Moms snapped pictures as kids smiled for the cameras.

Local school resource officers were on hand to assist with crowd maintenance and safety. Music blared to pump up the crowd.

Team Ramsey, in bright yellow shirts, could be seen at one end of the grandstands hopping like frogs, skipping with high knees, and bouncing off stairs in obvious warm-up mode.

“My legs are ready to run,” said rookie runner, Charley Bourgard, a second-grader from Fernan Elementary.

Charley said she joined track because she wanted to test herself.

“I wanted to try, to see how good I could do,” she said, adding that she came in second-place at her last practice.

Before the running began, Ashley Cleveland, a Dalton Gardens fifth-grader, sang the national anthem. There was no kneeling or sitting as the people of Coeur d’Alene gave hearty applause before Ashley finished the last note.

Soon, groups of students sorted by grade level were stirring up clouds of dust as they trekked around the fairgrounds. Shirts in bright shades representing the various schools created a rainbow sea of colors as runners lined up behind cones to wait for the signal to go.

Winners are expected to be announced next week.

Bryan Elementary’s track team coach, Heather Montee, started volunteering with the program 20 years ago when her kids attended Hayden Elementary. She has been coaching at Bryan for the past 15 years.

“I have five children. My baby just turned 20, so she’s been out of elementary school for a long time, but I love it,” Montee said. “It’s a fun thing and I can’t seem to give it up. It’s a way to encourage and teach younger kids to run and that it’s a form of exercise. It’s something they can enjoy and possibly may enjoy doing for the rest of their lives.”

The track program was started 28 years ago by Vern Newby, who until 2010 served on the Coeur d’Alene school board for 21 years. Newby’s wife, Kris, helped him launch the program with about 30 runners. Today the program attracts 800 to 1,000 young runners each year.

This is the first year kids were charged a $5 fee to register with the program. In years past, the district received an Ironman Foundation Grant to pay for expenses such as the cost of using the fairgrounds and to pay for the awards, but with Ironman’s departure, that grant is no more.

Kids in the program practice early in the mornings before school begins. It is not only a way for the children to get valuable exercise, but teaches the unity of being on a team, pride in the school they are representing and trusting and respecting the adults who coach them. It can also be a springboard for their futures.

“Many of our students go on to participate in middle and high school,” said Trena Burt, track coach and physical education teacher for Ramsey Elementary. “Those programs have definitely seen growth and I feel it is because of the growth at the elementary level.”

Ramsey fifth-grader Zara Mumyer is in her second year of doing track at the school. That led her to join the all- ages North Idaho Cross Country team.

“It’s a great activity, with only costing $5 and the cost of running shoes, as compared to the skiing, which is really expensive, said Zara’s mom, Kristina. “And it’s a great community activity that brings people together working as a team to put it all together.”