Runners of Ronan
The runners who finished the 100-mile relay run. Back row left to right: Justin Dusty Bull, Kevin Wreblewski, Halley Walston, Dylan Sagmiller, Jason Taylor, Christian Andersen, Nate Rogers, Jordan Franklin, Eric Malmquist, Danny Romero and Jaden McNair. Middle row l to r: Edmond Dupuis, Ryan Hardy, Cody Johnson, and J.T. Probst. Front row l to r: Angela North Piegan, Kiona Howell, Raymee Clairmont, Ashley Grandchamp, Rachel Hardy and Roslyn Hardy.
BIG ARM - A slight misunderstanding had freshman JT Probst thinking the already daunting task of the Ronan cross country team doing a 100-mile relay run was going to be near impossible.
"I thought we all had to do all 100 miles," Probst said.
Instead, Probst and the rest of cross country team took turns on three mile segments starting at Charlo High School last Wednesday night and ending in Big Arm State Park on Thursday morning to kick off the start to the season.
While some runners ran differing numbers of segments, the team ran 100-miles cumulatively over the night.
The run was similar to one done in Washington and Idaho where there is a relay from the city of Spokane to Sandpoint, Idaho.
"One of the reasons we did it was we had seven seniors," head coach Gail Decker said. "We though it would be a good experience for them."
Decker said he used a website to set the relay and made it a point to stay off main highways for safety reasons. However, the team did run into an obstacle right away on Wednesday night - the weather.
"We got wet right away but it didn't seem to affect them," Decker said.
The players didn't complain about the cooling effects of it either.
"It was pretty cold at first," junior Cody Johnson said. "The rain started feeling good."
The rain did subside after a few hours and it was a nice sunny day on Thursday to encourage the team's finish at Big Arm State Park.
Decker wanted to use the relay as a teambuilding activity to get everyone together so they would get to know one another.
"We went through some beautiful country on this run, but we didn't get to see most of it because it was dark," he said.
The Lake County sheriff's office provided an escort as the team ran for safety.
However overnight running meant they weren't exactly in rush hour.
"We had some stretches last night were we didn't see vehicles for a while," Decker said.
The team bus followed to give kids that weren't running at the time a chance to try and catch some rest. Some slept and some didn't, however, plenty had energy to enjoy the campsite the day afterwards.
"We had waits so we slept during breaks," Probst said.
Ronan had 26 boys and girls try out for cross county and the entire team ran the first mile together before sectioning off into the relay.
"This is the largest team we've had since I've been coach," Decker said. "It's good, we have some kids that want to be competitive and we have kids that just want to get out and run for the exercise."
The scenic beauty of the Mission Valley certianly is attractive for kids thinking about running. Several cross country championships in the past decade have also created a sense of tradition for the team.
After finishing the run at about 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, the team camped overnight and boated out to Wild Horse Island for a run. Flathead Lake served as a nice relief after the run.
"It's very nice except it's kind of cold," junior Nate Rogers said.
Despite running a collective 100 miles, the team was surprisingly energetic the day they finished. They enjoyed the camp site and the water, suprising even their head coach.
"You'd think they'd all be sleeping after being up all night," Decker said.