'I can do this'
Northwest Expedition Academy Second-grader Olivia Kearbey yells before the start of her race in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.
BILL BULEY/Press
Boys are off and running in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday.
Fifth-graders Summer Dance, left, and Charlotte Carr celebrate after finishing their race in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday. Carr won and Dance was second.
Katie Lind holds a poster and roots for her daughter in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday.
Girls are anxious to start running in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday.
Bryan Elementary student Harper Andersen, left, and JJ Matthews of Fernan Elementary sprint to the finish line in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday.
Second-grader Royce Sanborn smiles after finishing his one-mile race in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday.
Ramsey fourth-grader Levi Waterhouse recovers after his race on Thursday.
Northwest Expedition Academy second-grader Harrison Coy waits at the end of the starting line of runners for his race on Thursday.
Fernan fourth-grader Nathan Malay eyes the finish line on Thursday at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.
Girls tear away at start of their race in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday.
Parents take pictures of runners after they finish the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday.
Runners pass Canfield Mountain in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday.
Second-grader Finn Shirts of Dalton Elementary grits as he runs to the finish line on Thursday
Girls charge away at the start of a race in the Coeur d'Alene School District's annual elementary school cross country meet Thursday
COEUR d’ALENE — After finishing his race on Thursday, second grader Royce Sanborn sat on the top rung of a fence and caught his breath.
He needed a rest because that was a tough mile.
“Kinda hurt,” said the student at Sorensen Magnet School of the Arts and Humanities.
About 900 students competed in the 37th annual Coeur d’Alene School District elementary cross country meet at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on a sunny, 70-degree evening.
With parents, coaches and teachers cheering them on, boys and girls from grades two to five ran a mile to culminate the monthlong program held at each school.
Winners received medals, the top three boys and girls in each grade earned ribbons and all finishers received participation ribbons.
Lisa Manning-Blattstein, co-director along with Marla Nixon, said the program helps students understand they can do hard things and it builds confidence.
"They realize, ‘Oh, I can do this,’” she said.
Before the first race, Manning-Blattstein urged the young runners to “take a big, deep breath.”
“Take it easy,” she said as students toed the starting line and readied to run. “It’s not the 100-yard dash. It’s 1 mile. You got this.”
Ryan Howard, Hayden Meadows fifth grader, won the opening race.
It felt good to be first, he said, but he worked for it.
“I had to dig my deepest," Howard said.
Charlotte Carr and Summer Dance finished first and second in the girls’ fifth-grade race, separated by a second. The two were surrounded by family as they celebrated afterward with smiles and hugs.
Carr finished fourth the past two years.
“This year, I won. I can’t believe this,” she said. “At the end, I just pulled through."
Dance said she was “super proud” of her friend.
“I think maybe I could have gone a second faster,” she said.
Heather Montee, Bryan Elementary running coach, has been involved with the program 25 years and said it helps kids learn that hard work pays off and they get out of it what they put into it.
She has seen some develop a love for running.
“If you ask them, they have fun running,” she said.
Not everyone, however, was having a good time.
Harper Anderson of Bryan Elementary won her fourth-grade race with a furious sprint to the finish line, her face etched in pain.
“It hurt because I couldn’t breathe,” she said.
JJ Matthews, a Fernan fourth grader, uttered a few words to describe his run as he walked away with family.
“Pain, cold and kind of sweaty.”
