Ronan cross country team embarks on overnight relay run to get

ready for upcoming season

RONAN - Little sleep. Long distances. In the dark.

That was what the Ronan cross country team faced last Tuesday night. While getting ready for the fall sports season, the Chiefs and Maidens had no problem lacing up their shoes for a team 100-mile relay that went from 5 p.m. on Aug. 16 and ended on 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 17.

Last year, the team did a 100-mile relay that ended in Big Arm, but they were all so exhausted from camping there at the end of the relay that head coach Gale Decker decided to change the relay to start in Ronan, then come back around and end in the North Crow with a large breakfast waiting.

"It was okay last year but we were just worn out after Big Arm, so I decided to change it," Decker said.

The team had no trouble adjusting to the new course and came out with a quicker pace.

"I thought the kids did well. We were a little faster than last year," Decker said.

The team took turns running three-mile intervals and then getting rest in between, mixed in with plenty of moonlight, and a few rattlesnakes. The traffic also agreed nicely with the cross country team during their run.

"We just kind of rotated throughout the night," Decker said. "We didn't have one vehicle come by us in either direction for a four or five hour stretch."

Some kids would finish their interval and then decide to run with their friends, which showed what a team-building activity this was. In all, 17 athletes and three coaches ran the relay. And for some, it was just the beginning to their day.

Several football players, who are also running cross country this season, ran the 100-mile relay, then got about an hour of shut eye in the locker room before getting back up for football practice.

The cross country team then got to rest until that Thursday night when it got back to business. With runs like these, it's easy to see why the Chiefs and Maidens are looking at their first season back in B with a positive attitude with plenty of experience coming back for the boys and key runners coming back for the girls, Ronan should certainly be a force.

And who can argue with a team that can run through the night when most people are sleeping?