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You’re Invited to Our Annual Meeting!

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Editor’s note: A previous version of this article listed the meeting time at 5 p.m., and has since been corrected to 6 p.m.
The Big Sky Wind Drinkers will be holding our Annual Meeting and Officers election on Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Story Mansion. We won’t be hosting a run like in year’s past, but you are welcome to run there for bonus points. Meet club members, fellow running enthusiasts and enjoy food and drink as well as a recap of the year’s events. We also have some fun participation prizes this year to hand out.
BRING: Yourselves, a friend or family member, a dish to share and drinks (BYOB). Hope to see you there!

The Mature Runner: The Lure of a Fast 10,000 meter Run

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As fall advances, and I read about all the cross-country races going on locally, I find myself reminiscing about running 10k’s on the track. Here’s the connection: back in the ‘80’s I was among other things (like a college French teacher) a NCAA Div III cross-country coach. Early every Saturday morning, I’d be with the team getting them to breakfast before the normal 10am start of the week’s race. I was also at the height of my so-called “running prowess”. My French class schedule allowed me to do my daily workout right before the team would arrive at the fieldhouse for their workouts, which I would do with them. It was an ideal double-workout. After a few years of getting the team ready for the week’s race, I was always wishing I could be out there running the race with them. That would look bad! So, there I was, having no ability to do a weekly race. Solution: I could get up super-early, and do my own race….before getting the team up and out to breakfast. The result was using whatever school-we-were-at track and do a timed 10k. I could put all the workout finesse I had honed through the week to work. This only happened the last season I was the cross-country coach. As a result, I started bringing down my PR from doing 10k’s out on the roads. I finally broke the 34 minute barrier, and ran a 33:24:40. I put it all on the line, not daring think of what would probably happen while I was running around the course 4 hours later urging on my runners. Yes, I was beat to the bone, but could never show it. And the last meet of the season, everything was set for another try for a new PR. The weather was ideal (no wind and cool), and the workouts had gone perfectly. I knew the spits I had to reach to end up with a new PR. I looked at my watch as I crossed the “finish line” and saw to my amazement, 33:24:23. Victorious, but a little empty since it was only by 17 100ths of a second. And….I’ve never been anywhere even close to that ever since.

And speaking of 10ks, I had to go online and find out what the wide world of running has accomplished since I last looked (so many years ago). I was shocked. The women’s 10k world record times went down below 31:00 (the last time I looked). But as of today, Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey ran a 29:01.03 at the Ethiopian Olympic Trials in Hengelo, Netherlands (June 8, 2021). Her last lap was a 60:03. She traded off world records with Sitan Hassan who ran a 29:06.32 just 2 days before on the same track. So, I googled her to find out a little more….she is 5’5” and is listed at 110 pounds. Of course, she grew up on an Ethiopian farm, and when 13, refused to run as part of her local school’s PE program, which got her expelled from school. She was allowed back into school when she agreed to be part of the school PE program! Little did they know! We can’t leave Letesenbet without mentioning she broke 2 other WR in 2021: the 5000m in Valencia, Spain on October 7 in 14:06.62, and then again in Valencia, Spain on October 24th she ran a WR in the 1⁄2 marathon (road) in 62:52. Frankly, those times used to be WR times for men! Paavo Nurmi ran a WR 14:24 (5000m) in 1924 in Stockholm. And Emil Zátopek ran a 29:24 (10,000m) in 1949 in the Czech Republic.

Letesenbet Gidey Triumphant at 5,000m via tvmax-9.com.

And her 10k record via sportskeeda.com.

And now on to the current men’s records run by Joshua Cheptegei, from Uganda – 26 years old (5’6” and 115 lbs). Notice the similarity of Joshua’s specs with Letesenbet’s? Joshua is 1 inch taller, and 5 pounds heavier. (Looks like most of humanity is nowhere close to breaking long distance world records!) That track in Valencia, Spain also saw Joshua break his 10,000m record on the same day as Letesenbet’s (26:11:00). Wow. And his 5,000m WR came in Monaco on Aug 14, 2020 with a 12:35:36.

Joshua’s 10k record elmercurlo.com.

…and the 5,000m record via triamax.com.

I’m just bringing you up-to-date on the fast people to put my once-thought-to-be glorious DR (David’s Record) of 33:24:23 in proper perspective 🙂 Happy doing your thing this fall – happy dreaming of what you can do, or have done, or will do!!

The Mature Runner: A Tale of Heroes at the 2022 BRR

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By David Summerfield

Since I’m not physically present at the race anymore, this is what I’ve gleaned from conversations. I can’t help but see everyone involved in the BRR as people determined to fulfill their inner drive to be heroes of some kind. This may seem an exaggeration, but everyone in some way is always challenged to dig deeply into the inner self, and struggle in some way – and that’s what the hero’s journey is all about.

This year several sweeps could not show up, so alternates had to show up. One was Darryl Baker, who spent all summer coordinating the hauling of 2 1⁄2 gallon jugs onto the ridge. And he helps set-up the finish line, and helps take it all down. One busy individual, as you all know. But on Aug 13th, he found himself following a runner from Oklahoma, who barely made the Sac summit under 75 minutes (the cut-off). Being told the next aid station was a downhill 5 miles, the runner decided to go on to Ross Pass. According to Darryl, this runner fell over a dozen times coming off Sac – yes, the boulder field is tricky, so this Oklahoman had his own “hero’s journey” – making it down alive to Ross Pass!

This is Darryl’s picture taken that day coming off of Sac.

Another hero was Dean Folda, who tirelessly (actually he did get tired out!) cooked all the burgers on Kurt Buchl’s BBQ for the crowd for so many hours. His brother James had been doing this for many years (with his family) and sadly passed away in April. He asked to take his brother’s place to honor him. A true hero doesn’t take any credit for his deeds – he’s always doing it for a higher good. And that sentiment goes for the horde of volunteers who put on this race, like Boz. He’s always the unsung hero every Ridge Run. He accomplishes the feats of a dozen volunteers. He’ll have to be the subject of the next post-BRR article.

I realized something very important was missing the day after the race. There was no article or results in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, interviewing runners at the finish line. That had never happened before. Yes, there was one picture of Kristina Trygstad (who was the 1st woman down, and with just one male runner in front of her!) – but nothing else. So, I got her on the line, and had a great conversation – here is the fruit of our little talk:

Many of you know Kristina Trygstad-Saari as a member of a storied family of Ridge Runners, and more importantly of Norwegian (mom Anne) and Finnish (dad George) descent. Her mom holds the over 60’s and over ‘70’s records. Kristina held the overall women’s record of 3:40:37 (2019). But this year, the stars all lined up just right, and here’s the story.

Kristina coaches cross-country skiers in the winter (officially she’s the US Paralympics Nordic Skiing Coach & Manager), but keeps up her running year round. As soon as the trails get clear of ice and snow, she regularly trains going up and down Baldy. (My last trip up Baldy her mom Anne passed me going down – oh, and you can see their house on Bridger Canyon Road from the summit.) Wanting to be in really good shape for another fast Ridge Run, she took it easy the months leading up to Aug 13th. She only did one longish trail race – a 30km trail race in Ketchum (Idaho) called the Standhope Ultra Challenge, July 23rd. Oh, she won that race, outright (3:22:13)…98 runners, the guy behind her was 5 minutes back, and the woman behind him was 37 minutes behind. Kristina said this was a low-key race which was perfect for being relaxed come August 13th. Not to be misleading, she did pretty heavy distance work on her favorite trails (going up and down Baldy all summer!!).

I pressed her for her nutrition. Remember, her body is not like yours, so her regimen is what works best for her, not yours! She likes food that’s easy on the stomach, that digests well. This means pasta, rice, eggs, fruit – she prefers bland food, and light on the veggies. The night before was pasta, and just a bit more than usual. Having no ride to the start, she drove herself up, and was the 1st runner to arrive (“I wanted to beat the train!”) She relaxed in her car as the sun rose, and then strapped on her waist belt (3 GU’s, and 1 bottle of water). She also carried one handheld water bottle. She had Chris (her boyfriend of many years who is in his last year in nursing) meet her at Bridger. He handed over 2 more GU’s, and exchanged 2 full water bottles. I was struck by her not having any fancy, chemically enhanced powder in the water. “No, water is best for my finicky stomach!” And 5 GU’s total for the run, like 1 every 1⁄2 hour or so. And that’s it. Period. Talk about different bodies….my last Ridge Run I downed over 3 quarts of strong Gatorade, 6 GU’s, 14 ecaps, stopping at each Aid Station downing as many calories as I could get…potato chips, pretzels, pickles, gummy bears). It also took me over 7:30 to finish 🙂 Back to the rather unreal Trygstad-Saari world…

Kristina did go to the “M” parking lot to examine the new finish area the evening before the run. I’d say she was conscious of the possibility of breaking her own record, and knowing it would take an extra minute or 2 to get to the Fish Hatchery. She said that’s when she realized “I’m just going to go for it!” At the start, she was in a pack of 4 guys, some of whom she knew. And soon she was just behind Zach Perrin (who won), knowing that she wouldn’t catch him, but not having anyone behind her to push her. This meant the pressure was off – she just had to run her own race. Weather? Not a factor since it was cooler than usual, and by Baldy, there was the usual blazing sun.

This is her 6th time to race the BRR, and she’s the type who clearly knows the times needed at various checkpoints, so she was totally aware of her pace and possibilities. She glanced at her watch as she passed approximately where the old finish line was, and her watch read 3:37. That’s a CR (Course Record). And she only needed another couple minutes to cross the new finish line in 3:39:25!!

What type of person can be called a hero who has such an easy time pulling off a heroic feat?? The telling of this story does make it sound like Kristina was just doing a “walk in the park”. But it was the result of not racing the Ridge for 3 years, for starters. You could call her a “one point focus” hero. In talking with her I could hear the unsaid

thoughts – like “I know I can go faster”. She’s 37 and in the prime of her running life. I know of no runners who finish such runs without knowing “I know I can do it faster next time!” They also don’t brag about their exploits. They work harder than most of us know how to work. Fear doesn’t exist – caution, yes, but no fear. Just assurance that if you focus all your efforts, you can do whatever you set your mind to.

And I’ll leave it at that, finishing on a preposition as well…I seem to remember Kristina was an English major 🙂

The Mature Runner: What World Record Fell This Month?

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By David Summerfield

At the Eugene, Oregon World T&F Championships, Sydney McLaughlin (USA) ran a 50.68 in the women’s 400m hurdles – and was just 1:57 behind the winning 400m, without hurdles! And Noah Lyles just lowered the American 200 meter dash time to 19:31. Great…these quick short, little runs were well shy of going 26.2 miles.

Anything else? Well, the fact that I eeeked out one more marathon this year, yes – that’s a Summerfield 2022 Record. Ha! Must I bore you with the details, obviously! Since ending my “real running exploits a few years ago, I only jog downhills anymore. Now all I do is pick a course that gets measured accurately (I used to be a certified USA T&F course measurer, and I would “sanction” races, really). Then I build up to it, and pull it off. I used to do this using Frank Newman’s marathon course going to Livingston (yes, walking the whole way). Moving to Nye, Montana – I found a great course, measured it, and did it last year, with Stacy’s help who did the last 16 mile with me (if you ever need a new marathon course, just get to Absarokee, park near the intersection of the only blinking light going through town, and take off going toward Red Lodge.

(the Absarokee blinking light starting line “everipedia.org”)

After 2.8 miles, turn West onto the Nye Road, and go the 24 miles to the Cathedral Mountain Ranch gate…exactly 26.3 miles. You have the thrill of seeing the snowcapped Beartooth Mountains as a backdrop – just like seeing the Absarokas going over to Livingston).

(CMR Gate Finish Line, “cmra.us/photo/cabins/gagte1a.jpg”)

Back to this year’s 2022 marathon. Instead of the traditional FNM on Memorial Day weekend (we were in France then), we kept waiting for decent weather – not hot, not on a weekend. Too many days in the 90’s, so I got impatient, and decided to start at 2:30am, on the coolest day (only 85°) for weeks.

The next challenge was to find the perfect cache sites for my smorgasbord every 5 miles or so. This year, I discovered that all those metal guardrails along highways always have little curved endings, with hollowed-out cupboards behind, perfect for storing food and drink, and a flat spot on top to sit on while dining along the roadway. Suddenly, “doing a marathon” turned into a stroll along the road in style. What’s in the cache? The obligatory 14oz, 30g Premier Protein drink à la Franklin Coles, a used Coke bottle with Gatorade refill, a banana, a GU packet, a Kirkland chewy granola bar, and a little crisp apple. The last 3 caches had a wonderfully honeyed (moist soaked-through) peanut butter/honey sandwich. I discovered that much food is great for a much longer distance! At the end of the walk, I found out I weighed a pound heavier at the end than at the beginning! That’s something new. (Perhaps I’m putting out too much food.) Oh, I also carry a Scott Jurek inspired waist belt which holds 3 pouches – one for the ibuprofen and HammerNutrition ecaps, the others for the nasty GU packets.

If you’ve gotten this far in the article, my apologies. Here are some of the highlights: at 2:30am July 19th, the moon was high in the SW over my shoulder, with Neptune right beside it. This picture doesn’t do justice to the sight. It was like a huge flashlight.

(Moon with Jupiter “www.theweathernetwork.com”)

I could easily see the white lines telling me where the asphalt ended. The Pleiades rose further to the West around 3:30am. There was NO traffic. I was in my own personal paradise. I wore a headlamp, but only used it to find the various mileage markers so I could compute my pace. My 1st cache was across the street from the Fishtail General Store, next to a perfectly flat sitting rock. 6 minutes later, off I went into the night.

Fishtail General Store “www.whereiscookie.com”)

Around 5:30am, the 1st of 6 big white buses roared by – taking the daytime shift workers to the Stillwater Mine, located just 2 miles down from my finish line. That’s when the traffic started to grow. It wasn’t until past my 2nd cache (mile 11) that I entered the 1st direct sunlight. With a good headwind, I was kept quite cool as I got to the 1⁄2 way point, where Stacy and Morgan (daughter) joined me for the last 1⁄2 of the route! The 3rd cache was by the “Fishtail Creek End-of-the-metal-guardrail Smorgasbord station. I was too full to take much, realizing I wasn’t burning as many calories as I imagined. Up and over the pass, there’s a 5 mile long winding downhill with gorgeous views of the Beartooths. Yes, getting hot, but that headwind was a Godsend. Realizing we were going to go faster than the year before (8 hrs 47 min) we pressed on with blistering soles yelling away. We finished at our car parked next to the Cathedral Mountain Ranch gate in 8 hrs, 28 min. A wonderful walk on a beautiful day, and whew – the 2022 marathon is history – and I’m consciously wondering why I have to do this every single year. Yes, the streak is unbroken since my 1st marathon in 1980. (digression: the 1st marathon was the “Marathon de Martigny”, Switzerland – run entirely on narrow cobblestone, gravel paths through their vineyards…done in 2:59:36…yes, I was trying to get under 3 hours!) Back to streaks, they are made to be broken….just like world records? We’ll see. Frankly, making it a huge production is sorta fun, and with a willing family to put up with this kind of stuff, we’ll keep it going 🙂

Summer Happenings

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We’re off and “running” this summer with Bridger Ridge Run lotteries out of the way and invites sent, and Old Gabe out of the way, we’re in full swing training, hauling water and running every Wednesday at 6:30. A few announcements:

Signs ups for the John Colter race are open! Sign up soon, this is one of our most popular race and we are capped at 300 runners. (SIGN UP)

We had a VERY successful weekend of water hauling for the BRR to the point that we have fully stocked both the Baldy and Halfway aid stations along the southern portion of the route. Next up is Ross Pass and Bridger. Stay tuned for more information and how you can help! Volunteering doesn’t guarantee you get into the next BRR, but it helps a LOT and we appreciate our volunteers tremendously.

Our July Fun Runs are as follows:

6-July                           Glen Lake Rotary Park (formerly East Gallatin)

13-July                         Middle Cottonwood

20-July                         Bear Canyon

27-July                         Kirk Hill

Just show up at the trailhead and be ready to run by 6:30. Each run has a 1, 3 and 5 mile option. Hope to see you there!

Mature Runner: New Over 70 WR Quietly Set A Few Years Ago & Other Musings…

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By David Summerfield

I’m at it again…and another marathon WR goes to Jeannie Rice at the Chicago Marathon, which keeps allowing (facilitating) world records to be set. Yes, this is 4-years old news, but I keep digging up new records. This is the race Brigid Kosgei (see article 2 months ago) ran in a 2:18:35 (getting ready to break Paula Radcliff’s WR of 2:15 in 2019. And, as you might remember, she took another shot at Paula’s record, and ran a 2:14:04 the next year, again in Chicago).

(picture/article by Sarah Lorge Butler – Runners World – Oct 12, 2018)

Back to Jeannie Rice, of Mentor, OH, 25 miles east of Cleveland. She was a 70-year old, and is having the time of her life (pun) right now. I always wonder how on Earth these records keep getting smashed. Jeannie is a realtor (now part-time), going around selling properties, and at 70 – is faster than any other 70-year old. What? My 1st question is why is Jeannie still a realtor….maybe once a realtor, always a realtor? 2 days after her WR, she was back at work (in her realtor heels) wrote Sarah Butler of Runners World. She came to the USA from

Korea as a 19 year-old, and didn’t start running until feeling “chubby” after a trip to see relatives in Korea. She was 34 then. She wanted to lose weight (ever heard that before?…I can relate 🙂 That’s when she found out she could run pretty fast, and started winning local races. From the article, it is VERY clear she is competitive, and got used to winning her age division…and that was 36 years ago. She admits to escaping the brutal Ohio winters by going to Florida for 5 months (all right, she’s probably not selling too many houses in Florida). She started out with a 3:45 marathon after starting running for only a year. That was followed by a 3:16 marathon – I guess she found out she really really loved to run. And I thought I was obsessed: by 2018, she had run 116 marathons, and wanted to win her division in all the world’s major races (Great Wall of China, New Zealand, Prague, Paris, London, Madrid, Dublin, and Iceland). From the Runners World article by Sarah Butler: “Rice makes no concessions to her age. ‘I don’t feel 70 at all,’ she said. ‘It’s too bad the number is there. I’d rather be 50. I’m sure the time will come. I’m probably not going to be able to run like this when I’m 80.’” (Poor Jeannie – is it okay for me to say that?)

(I love the fact that one of my marathon heroes, Joan Benoit Samuelson, was the only female who beat her in Chicago – as a 61-year old – and she ran a 3:12:13. Here’s a picture of Joanie doing “speedwork” at a 5km as a prep for Chicago:

Joanie as a 60-year old “pinterest.com”

Most of you won’t remember my article maybe 20 years ago about my running along a little road on an early Sunday morning near Falmouth, Maine. I was visiting my sister, doing my regular weekend Long Run of the week. I caught up to 2 runners, and they were having a great conversation. They were cool with me running with them. It turns out it was Joan running with her father. (I felt like I had been graced by the gods!)

Back again to Jeannie. After her 3:27:50 in 2018, she entered the BMW Berlin Marathon the next year (I guess Berlin wants to sell more BMWs, or give them to the winners so they don’t have to run anymore?), and she ran a 3:24:38. I believe that’s still the record. While trying to better that, in 2021, she did come in 2nd behind her fiercest competitor Yuko Gordon (70-74 age group!) in a race I had never heard of before. Amby Burfoot (longtime Runners World editor-in-chief and Boston Marathon winner – 1966 – in 2:22) wrote in Outside Magazine about the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Championships held in conjunction with the London Marathon. Whoa, whoa, whoa. This begs another digression:

Really? They’re sponsoring a world age-group running championship? What are they peddling? I looked them up, of course. And their yearly income is a cool $36 billion, employing a cooler 113,000 employees, and they make Ensure**, Pedialyte, Similac, and untold other medical products. Founded in 1888, they’ve kept up with the times, it seems. So, it looks like this business of running world records in your age group has hit the big time. The 70-74 marathon title was won in 3:25:30 by Yuko Gordon, who finished 34th in the 1984 Olympic Marathon. (More recently, Gordon ran 3:19:37 two years ago in Berlin when she was 68.) Gordon turned 70 last February. I guess digressions is the theme of this article. Did you happen to notice that Yuko Gordon ran the 1984 Olympic Marathon? Hmmm, and who WON that “jog in the park” … of course, none other than Joan Benoit Samuelson (2:24:52).

page3image42647760

Again, “back to Jeannie”…again! With a natural talent and a competitive streak Jeannie averages 50 miles a week all-year round and increases that to 70 miles when she has a marathon in her schedule. I have to keep asking myself, “David, do you realize this is a 73 year old talking?” I ask that because I am a 74 year old, and I’m certainly NOT out there just doing the basic “maintenance” 50 mile weeks, and upping them to 70 the weeks before I go for records at the Boston Marathon. Sheesh.

(Photo: courtesy Jeannie Rice )

**Did anyone notice this little asterisk in the text? It is another digression, a digression inside a digression, and that is probably going too far! So here’s a “footnote” (does that make it feel any better?): While on the subject of Abbott Laboratory’s Ensure, here’s the comment. While in WalMart yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of buying my yearly supply of Ensure, which is used on my once-a-year marathon walk which is soon to happen. This all started because of Franklin Coles. If you don’t know him, you should.

page4image42490368

(Photo: courtesy Jeannie Rice)

He was a past president and super-active member of the BSWD. He valiantly trained for many 100-mile races (notably the BigHorn 100). I emulated his abilities, and casually asked him how on earth he could do those races…what did you eat and drink? His answer has stayed with me, and I still use what he said. Those little bottles of Ensure can be found in the pharmacy section of every grocery store and are packed with the basic ingredients for those who can’t stomach regular food. Yes, I had to get over the feeling that I was buying them for my aging parents who had to be bottle fed in their old age. I down one bottle every 6 miles or so. And his other suggestion was a 16.9 ounce bottle of Coke. Frankly (pun), I reserve that for after the finish line. I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful July full of summertime running 🙂

That Mature Runner: World Records Belong To The Amputees Too!

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By David Summerfield

And I thought I’d finished getting caught up with all the broken World Records out there! Ha!! A new one just happened, and it happened as I write this article – so, many of you probably know all about it! One remarkable Jacky Hunt-Broersma decided to see how many marathon-distance runs she could pull-off on consecutive days. The recognized record was 100 in a row, and as she was finishing her 82nd, along came Kate Jayden, a British lady who did 101. So, Jacky’s quest had to go at least to 102. The Boston Marathon (April 17th) was her 92nd in a row, and finished in 5:05:13 (it was a windy, rainy day). That’s just under a 11:30 mile pace…about her average on her daily marathons. That’s quite a feat, but more so since she was running on one good leg – the other was a stump taped to a carbon-fiber running “Blade”. As it turned out, after she finished #102, she thought “why not do 2 more, so I can finish up April with a marathon?” Here she is on #104:

(Jacky on her 104th marathon from gndiario.com, and #102nd from mybestruns.com)

In April 2020, she took on the challenge of running 100 miles on her treadmill, at home – this was when all races had been canceled due to the pandemic. She took part in the The Aravaipa

Strong virtual race (100 mile division). The races featured over 2,000 runners worldwide from 29 different countries. Ten percent of the proceeds from the race were donated to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. She finished in 23:38:44…. a world record for amputees! (Just so you know, that averaged a 15 minute mile, including potty breaks, and getting off to eat meals.)

(Just finishing the 100 miler from blocorrendo.it)

“‘I did it!! 100 miles in 23hr 38 on a treadmill,’ she wrote in the caption. Still, don’t let the pic fool you. ‘This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done,’ she continued. ‘I look a little tired in this photo . Everything hurts, my stump is bruised and full of blisters and I will be doing a shuffle for a while, hahaha but it was so worth it.’”
– Korin Miller, April 27, 2020, Women’s Health magazine

It was interesting reading all the articles about her. She grew up in South Africa, and moved to the US, living in North Carolina while going through the tough readjustment to losing a leg (in 2001). It took her 15 years to decide to try running – admitting she always hated to run, but figured it was worth the challenge. She entered a 5k, and finished, and somehow, that’s what lit the flame that completely transformed her life….from being an amputee – to being an exceptional runner who happened to have an artificial leg. Notice the difference in these 2 pictures:

(What 4 years can do! From pinterest.com)

I love her story. It reminds me of Kraig Kempt who finished the 2018 BRR in around 10 hours. He had no blade, only his left hiking boot somehow attached to the prosthetic. And it seems Kraig and Jacky had very similar motivations. Based on what Kraig told me, and what I read about Jacky – they both had a tough adjustment after their legs were amputated. Kraig’s was due to a fall he sustained off a cliff up in Bridger Bowl, while he was filming some of his athletes working out with the Alpine BSF team. He was a strong athlete himself, but NO runner! Losing his leg was akin to losing his life. A therapist suggested he find an impossible challenge to take his mind off his loss…and thus he entered the BRR. He was not a runner by any stretch – and had to learn to run – with only one working leg. And he succeeded.

(Kraig at the finish line – Photo by David Summerfield, Aug 2018)

In speaking with Kraig after his remarkable BRR, I found out he threw his whole life into remaking his self-image (those are my words!). He was determined to do this – obviously an impossibility by all standards. He said he climbed up to the top of Baldy so many times – learning how to negotiate all those tricky spots….I remember asking him specifically about the spot where you get out on a big boulder with a tree growing next to it, and you have to hoist yourself down to the ground below, using the tree. He knew the place well, and had figured it out. When the snow cleared, he practiced climbing up Sacajawea over and over.

This is how he figured out how to deal with the rubbing of the prosthetic on his stump – the blistering, not to mention the pain. And Jacky had to go through the exact same things. I didn’t know the “Blade” costs over $10,000, and isn’t covered by insurance. But it opened up her whole world. Since this marathon-a-day venture, I’ve found out the “rules” are not very clear about how to verify you’ve done it. So, it really enters that gray zone like the popular FKT runners are doing all over the place (Fastest Known Time). You keep your own time, there’s no camera on you all the time, no helicopters hovering, no press – just you and the obviously best route you can figure out. Jacky ran loops in her neighborhood (her family now lives in Gilbert, Arizona), loops around her daughters school (while waiting for school to let out), and the treadmill. One day, “day care” fell through, and she had to run the 1st 1⁄2 marathon in the morning, and the other 1⁄2 that afternoon. So, of course she’s wondering if that will make people frown! But the impact is all that really counts. I saw somewhere she has over 42,000 followers on Instagram, and receives so many posts thanking her for her example – that she has inspired them to go way beyond what they think they are capable of. That’s all that really matters. I’ll close by a great picture of Jacky running side-by-side with her daughter:

(Jacky and daughter from trailandkale.com)

I can’t resist a little postscript: after finishing her treadmill 100-miler, she stopped her watch, with the belt still running, so she just kept on running for a while. Her husband asked her if she wanted to get off….?? This was caught on video. She replied… “Yea, I’m pretty tired”. Many of us know the Tom Hanks movie Forrest Gump pretty well, and remember him running down those endless roads near Canyonlands, Utah – with the throng of followers behind him…with him not saying a word. At one point he just stopped, looked around, and in a very slow drawl muttered “I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go home now.” (after 3 years of running…)

(Forrest Gump out in Monument Valley from pinterest.com)

That year’s BSWD scholarship winners!

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A huge part of being a Wind Drinkers is the efforts we put back into the local running community, including each year we hand out scholarships to young runners to help them on the next stretch of their journey. We wanted to take a moment and celebrate the four scholarship recipients. One requirement is to submit an essay about how running has shaped your life, which each has shared with you all below.

Kyra Giese – Belgrade

When I joined the high school cross country team freshman year, I was the second-fastest girl on the team, beaten only by my older sister, who was a senior at the time. The next year, after my sister’s graduation, I was the fastest girl on the team, a surprising feat considering that I am only 5’2’’. While I am not a person who typically brags, this made me feel confident in myself and my abilities. I was used to doing well consistently and not having to worry about making the varsity team. Sophomore year, I fell just short of my goal of breaking 21 minutes in the 5k. I was not worried about falling short of my goal, I figured that I had two years left of running cross-country and expected that I was only going to get faster. But then, during the winter and spring of sophomore year, I had some trouble with my mental health. I started to stress eat and exercise less. I gained weight and lost fitness. The next year, while I was able to stay on the varsity team, I consistently ran fifth or sixth on the team instead of first. This year, I have run some varsity races and some JV ones. The shift from being the fastest on the team to having to fight for my spot on varsity was difficult. In addition to the pressure of being from a family of runners, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be fast and my ability as a runner was a big part of my identity. At the beginning of my senior year, I was very frustrated with my running, but I learned how to be content with my body and my new placement on the team. This was not the first time I had felt this way. I have struggled with my body image since middle school. My struggles on the cross-country team actually helped me to work though some of my self-esteem issues and body dysmorphia because it led me to begin to accept my worth as inherent and not a product of my fitness or body shape. I have also been able to apply this lesson to other areas of my life, including school, which has helped me reduce stress by focusing on who I am as a unique human being, not a sum of my achievements and failures. There is no magic switch that I can flip to see myself in this new light. Reforming how I think about myself is a long and ongoing process. While it can still be difficult at times, I have developed a better relationship with my body and with running. Before I had this challenge, I never took a run easy, even when I was supposed to, and often left my teammates behind if they were running slightly slower than me. I placed so much of my worth on my performance that I could not afford to give anything less than all the effort I had. Now, I am able to slow down, enjoy the run, and let my body recover from harder workouts. Also, I find myself enjoying running with my teammates much more than I used to, without feeling pressured to do better than them. I still hope to regain some of the fitness I lost and become a better runner, I plan to do so while maintaining the much healthier relationship I have developed with the sport. This experience taught me that even when I fail, I hold my head high and find my own way to be proud of myself.

 

Samuel Nash – Belgrade

I began running in the seventh grade when I joined my school’s cross country team. I had no intention of making it a large part of my life, no one I knew ran, I didnt even think it was a sport. Unbeknownst to me, it would change the way I lived my life forever. It gave me the first time I could admit to myself that I had cared about something, and failed at it, and I found new ambition and a deepened understanding of what it would take to achieve this ambition.

I started the day like any other, woke up, ate breakfast, and then went to school. I was missing six classes for my race, but I wasn’t worried, that was a stroll through the park for me, so familiar, so easy I could do it with my eyes closed, and I did. I never had to try hard in school, I would slack off in and out of class and still put up straight A’s, there was no reason to put in extra effort if I didn’t have to, and that was fine by me.

A friend recommended I do cross country one day after we finished soccer practice, and I figured I’d try it. I ran the minimum miles at practice for a week or two, and then it was time for a meet. I could run faster than everyone in the few practice miles I did; and I began to wonder if this would be like that pleasant afternoon stroll that I enjoyed through school. rather than the grueling trek traditionally represented by athletics. My answer was approaching rapidly.

When we finally arrived at the course I was mystified, there was no field, no referee, only a start line, and a line of cones that marked the course, there was no one here to monitor what I did or didn’t do during the race, all I had to do was stay on course. It was utter freedom over my own actions, freedom to succeed or fail as I pleased. So different from the usual structured games with their rules and coaches always deciding what we did on the field. In light of this freedom, I saw no reason why this should not be my race to win.

There was a moment of elation as the gun fired, I erupted from the line, focused on nothing but getting in front, I felt my legs pounding, faster than I could run for the whole race, but I knew we would begin to slow down. I was in front within ten seconds, as I felt my pace slow ever so slightly, no one was approaching me, I was in the clear. I had no idea who was behind me or how far away they were, but it didn’t matter, I was going to stay winning for two and a half miles. Easy. I ate up the turns, flew up hills, and sped down them, relishing my victory, before I even heard my first mile time. It was exactly how I imagined it, a dominant performance, the inevitable win that was becoming more and more solid with every step.

This fantasy collapsed with around a half of a mile to run, my confidence began to waver as a problem emerged: it was getting harder to run, faster than I was approaching the finish line. I was suddenly and startlingly aware of the two runners right behind me. Was Their breath steadier than mine? How were they still going so fast? I tried to force more effort out of myself, fighting my lungs to breathe harder or my heart to beat faster, I wanted to go beyond them, to do more than I could, but there was no response. I was too tired. This was a situation I wasn’t ready for, I couldn’t lose, I wanted to win so bad, this wasn’t the stroll I wanted, and I found myself on the familiar lower slopes of the mountain of difficulty which I had never ventured far up. I didn’t know what to do, and so I did nothing.

I ended up 4th in that race, a position I told myself I was proud of, but one that disappointed me nonetheless. I didn’t know how to feel, I hadn’t made a mistake in the race, I fought through the start to the end, so how did I lose? Easy. I had been outworked. I had messed around in practice and I lost because of it. I hadn’t taken my preparation seriously, and I lost because of it. I had done things the way I always did them when I succeeded, and I lost because of it. It turned out that running was neither as peaceful as school nor as demoralizing as other sports, but something in between. With success not so elusive to be deemed impossible, nor dropped directly into my lap, but rather just barely, tantalizing, out of reach, on

the crest of a molehill, a hike, but certainly not the trek I had come to fear. I understood that true success here was hard, physically and mentally, but for the first time, that did not scare me, rather I relished the challenge.

I began to pour more of myself into the things I did, first running, doing more at practice, and then eventually outside of it. This attitude soon spilled over into my schoolwork as I sought to challenge myself with more rigorous courses. My desire for a success that was just out of reach increased, as did my will to get there.

I talk to the younger runners on the cross country team now sometimes, and I see who I was inside of them, either too headstrong to believe they can lose, too disheartened to believe they can win, or somewhere in the middle. They are always set straight eventually, either humbled or inspired, and I attempt to guide them. I help them cultivate their new talents and can not be more proud to see their success. Especially when I get to watch the climb to the top, and whether it is summiting a great mountain, hiking a molehill, or simply strolling through the park, I am still proud to see their goals realized.

Their journey is my great joy in life. Running saved me from becoming a passive observer in my own life, it taught me how to understand difficulty rather than impossibility. Without my experience in running, I never would have pursued the challenges that I have now, I never would have failed, but I also never would have truly felt the success that can only emerge from feeling oneself lifted beyond previously thought up limitations, as I never would have left the comfort of my own ability.It is due to this great debt I owe the sport, that I take such happiness in helping those around me find it, I feel it allows me to give back to the sport that so radically changed the way I lived.

 

Samuel Konen – Twin Bridges

Running, My Worst Enemy

Since I was a kid the thing I always dreaded most was running. Whether it was laps around the gym at PE, tag at recess, or conditioning during little league football, I absolutely hated running. It wasn’t because I was lazy or thought I was too good for running, it was because I was awful at it. I was always the last in races and the slowest on the team, it was always such an embarrassing feeling for me. One of my worst memories from childhood was my 5th-grade county track meet during which my coach forced me into doing the 800-meter race. It was absolutely brutal, I came in last, but not just last, I managed to get lapped. I got lapped in the 800-meter race, a two-lap race! Everyone watched and laughed at me, it made me feel so insecure and ashamed that I almost quit every sport. So as a kid what running meant to me was a reminder that I wasn’t good enough, that I was too slow, and that I was an embarrassment.

I chose not to run track through high school, for fear that I would embarrass myself again. I continued my other sports of football and basketball throughout high school, but those didn’t go much better. However, unlike in 5th-grade, I didn’t let my shortcomings discourage me. I continued to work hard and it eventually paid off. No matter how bad the game went or how tired I was, I kept working. Countless hours were spent in the gym and weight room so I could improve my skills. I went from benchwarmer to starter, from water boy to all-conference. But, even as I got faster, stronger, and improved in my other sports, there was still a fear of returning to the track.

This year, after some strong convincing from my coach, I decided to go out for track once again. The confidence and encouragement from my coach gave me the courage to go out again no matter what happens on that track. The first track meet was last week. On the bus ride over, all I thought about was how I was going to fail and embarrass myself just like before. The meet came and went, and I was far from a state champion, but I did surprisingly well and showed lots of potential. That anxious feeling of failing was gone.

So what does running mean to me? Running was a symbol, a symbol for all the things I chose not to do because I feared failure. I missed out on countless opportunities because I thought I was going to lose. But the true loss was missing out on countless opportunities to have fun and improve myself. Running, even though I hated it for years, helped me realize that we cannot fear failure. We have to accept that failure is a possibility, in every aspect of life, and it shouldn’t hold us back from doing the things we enjoy.

 

Landon Scott – Manhattan Christian

Throughout my high school years I have been a part of both the cross country and the track team. I have had both great experiences and experiences that have challenged me. These challenges didn’t just occur in these specific sports seasons, instead they all began when I was born. When I was born, I was born with a pretty severe case of clubfoot. Clubfoot is when the tendons within the foot are not formed correctly and the result is an inward turned foot. Throughout my first couple years of life, I had several surgeries, I was in a wheelchair for a couple of months, and I also had several different casts on my left leg from the knee down. As time went on I grew stronger and when I turned 3 I was eventually able to walk without crutches and without a cast on. Between the ages of 3 to about 13, I was able to run without pain and I was able to participate in several sports. The sports that I participated in were tee ball, baseball, soccer, basketball, track, football and I also ran in several big 5k races in that time. As time went on and when I was in 7th grade, I began to notice an unusual tightness in my left foot and a random aching that was just annoying at first. As time went on and when my freshman cross country season came around the pain and the tightness started to become unbearable and whenever I tried to run, there was such an enormous amount of pain that I couldn’t run even if I wanted to. After cross country season ended my parents and I traveled to my foot doctor at Shriners in Portland, OR. This appointment would be one that I would remember for years to come, because I found out that this would be the start to a series of surgeries that would put me out of sports for about three-quarters of a year. This was because I needed to have a reconstructive leg surgery, and they would have to remove a piece of my tibia and fibula and hold the bone together with a plate with eleven screws. However I pulled through and was able to manage for the cross country team the following fall and even participate in basketball.

The next year however I had to have another surgery to remove the plate and screws from the bone in my leg. Between the first surgery and the second one, I had spent several months on crutches, several days in the hospital, and countless hours on the road to recovery through sessions of physical therapy. There were good and bad days within that mix, but throughout that time I realized how much I actually took for granted. It was a miracle in the first place that I could even walk, run, and do things that kids should have every right to do. There are so many people in this world that have been born with disabilities or have become disabled that cannot enjoy the action of running. Over the course of this past year I was finally able to run in a cross country meet again, and that entire season I never took anything for granted and I was excited for the practice, even if it was a hard day. Also since track has started I have run my first 100 meter dash since middle school. Even on days when it hurts, I still try my best to push through the pain and run, because it is a miracle in itself that I can even do this stuff. This is what running means to me, to find joy and gratitude through the good days and the hard days, to use the gift of running to help others in times of need or hardships, and to not take our mobility for granted. Running is a gift, a gift that cannot be replaced. I have learned this through my athletic experiences and it is something that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Bozeman Track Club: Who got you into running?

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Take a moment to remember – Who got you into running? For many kids in Bozeman, it was us, the Bozeman Track Club. Since 1995 we’ve been focused on providing supportive and skilled instruction in Cross Country and Track and Field events to Middle School and High School athletes. Sometimes we work in conjunction with the school district, but mostly we operate as a volunteer club.  We are a bit different from other sports clubs in that we only practice a few times a week, take whole seasons off, are low-cost, and everyone gets to participate equally.

Now that it’s springtime we are holding our Track & Field season at the shiny new GHS Track. It’s a great place for kids to try a new event or to focus on their discipline and compete at a regional USATF meet. Come Fall we run a Cross Country program for all middle school-age children that has gotten a lot of recognition for its welcoming and accessible vibe.

By being so accessible to everyone we are able to get a lot of kids into running, jumping, and throwing.  Some get hooked on it and go on to do amazing things.  Others choose other activities to focus on and maybe find it again later in life.  We believe that running should be like a foreign language, everyone should be exposed to it!

It takes a community of runners to do something like this and you are a big part of our success. The Big Sky Wind Drinkers have been generous supporters of our efforts since the beginning and we couldn’t have done it without you, we are so grateful!  So when you see us out doing tempos at the East G. or running in chat-packs at Peets Hill this Fall, please know that we feel your support as we get more kids into running. Runners Helping Runners!

– Michael McCormick, VP of Bozeman Track Club

Spring and summer race updates

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Hello Wind Drinkers! A few updates from the team concerning spring and summer races.

The Baldy Blitz is May 14. We have to cap this race, so please sign up beforehand to ensure you are able to participate. Register here.

The Frank Newman Marathon and Half Marathon is May 28. You can register and pay AT the event, but please download and print the registration form beforehand to bring with you! Form can be found here.

We are in need of volunteers! We need an equipment manager and someone to help with our membership team. For more info on the equipment manager position, please contact twholleman@gmail.com, for more info on the membership position, please contact memberships@winddrinkers.org.

Join the Bozeman Running Company for Thursday social runs! We are partnering with BRC for a few fun, summer fun runs every Thursday starting April 28 for 3 and 5 mile options. Learn more here.