Monday, March 18, 2024

Trail Blazers, Outlandish Fun

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Something outlandish is afoot in Leavenworth.

Twenty-eight kids are regularly scampering through the woods, hurdling logs, rebounding off boulders, galloping downhill, and whooping and hollering like Peter Pan’s Lost Boys.

Shouldn’t they be sitting somewhere indoors quietly staring at a screen? Or solving mathematical word problems and writing opinion essays? Or, if they must be outside, wouldn’t they rather follow the rules of a game and stay within geometrically shaped boundaries drawn by white lines?

At least sometimes the answer is “Nope!”

Twice a week in spring’s heyday of sunshine, scuttling clouds and breezes carrying the scents of a thousand living things, Osborn Elementary’s Trail Blazers take to the trails from Barn Beach to Enchantment Park.

Rhone Goodfellow, a fourth grader, is one of the many kids with perfect attendance. He said, “You get to run with your friends and do fun things every day.”

Trail Blazers is a free running club led by Andrew Holm and Marlene Farrell, both Osborn parents, avid runners and coaches by virtue of the fact that they’re the ones planning the relays, games and adventure runs.

The “rules” of the club boil down to a pretty good life philosophy: 1. Have fun, 2. Try new things and 3. Be safe. Some of these runners know the downtown trails and others like the backs of their hands; they’re from families that habitually hike and bike. For others, exploring on trails, running full bore under a leafy canopy and practicing parkour is new and exhilarating.

At one practice everyone scrambled up the makeshift steep trail to the top of Rattlesnake Hill, where they enjoyed the view. It was the first time for some. “I liked climbing Rattlesnake Hill, even though it was scary,” said fifth grader Monica Vazquez. 

Several children were happy to share what they liked about Trail Blazers. Ellie Holm, a fifth grader, said, “You get to see the outdoors in a fun way.”

“You get to know new people as we do these fun things,” added Cassidy Gillespie, another fifth grader.

Sophia Doherty, a fifth grader, liked the activities. She said, “The coaches include games to make running super fun.”

The waterfront trails are a web with many intersections. Holm and Farrell set a destination, but the runners get to pick their path. The older boys (and eleven is much older than nine) especially love to be independent. They always return to the group after these small bouts of freedom. 

Benny Sanborn, a fifth grader, said, “I like that we run on lots of different trails.”

Farrell and Holm don’t do it alone. They have help. “The volunteer support is awesome: older siblings, Kodiak track and cross country members and dedicated parents,” said Holm. “We’re all out there together, running and being outside just for the sake of doing it.”

At the end of practices kids have flushed cheeks, sweaty brows, a need to guzzle water and an eagerness for snacks. Dan’s Market donates fruit for the Trail Blazers, and Osborn’s food services department donates chips and crackers.

Trail Blazers run in April and May, so it’s short and sweet. The point is to offer an introduction to running that isn’t about competition and beating the clock. This running club is about being outdoors, being with friends and running fast purely for the fun of it.

Holm said, “I think whatever success we have, in giving kids a small tool they can take with them as they move on, comes from a light touch: encouraging and promoting the capacity to push oneself while allowing a bit of freedom to simply play.”

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