By JERRY HITCHCOCK

Staff Writer

To say the Coeur d’Alene Marathon is running full-steam-ahead would be an understatement.

Armed with a crack guiding organization, great sponsorship, a stellar local following and a destination resort as a backdrop, the event celebrates 40 years with its running on May 28 in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

Cynthia Rozyla, Coeur d’Alene Marathon director, is quick to praise her troops when discussing the event’s recent successes.

“It is only because of them that this event has grown,” she said. “Over the years we have hand-picked our committee members. When we need someone who can do a certain task or has certain skills, we ask ourselves ‘who do we know in the community that does that?’ Let’s go approach them — and so that is what we’ve done.”

Rozyla said many locals have stepped up and volunteered their time.

“Steve Eller, who is opening up Cosmic Cowboy (Grill on Haycraft), said he’d like to help out. He came on board, stepped in and has done all our website updates and helping with social media so he has been a huge part of the committee for this year and we continue to grow.”

Rozyla is now in her fourth year as director. She has always volunteered for the event since she moved to the area in the mid-1990s. “It has been worth it to stick with it. I built a committee and if you want an event to grow, you really need a good committee to cover all the bases.”

Committee members include Jami Daugherty, Andrew Willis, Elizabeth Preseton, Steve Eller, Isaac Mann, Curt DuPuis, Josh Strabu, Aimee Peters, Jillian Caires, Ben Tran, Ned Tower, Hunter Price and Diane Higdem.

When Rozyla came on board, the marathon was directed by an organization out of Spokane. “But due to a health problem at the last minute one year, we got kind of stuck one year and Charlie Miller, who was the executive director, asked me if I would take it on.”

Rozyla said the marathon’s current lineup of sponsors is “awesome.” Knutdsen Chevrolet is joined by Atomic Threads, Advanced Benefits and Idaho Credit Union is making the event one of the premier marathon events in the region. The marathon benefits the North Idaho Centennial Trail.

Many of the marathon competitors will also be participating in the Iron Series, which is made up of the marathon, the Coeur d’Alene Crossing swim event and the Coeur d’Fondo cycling event.

Coeur d’Alene Race Course Director Isaac Mann has been working with Rozyla on the event for nearly a decade.

“Cynthia’s the heart of the race — she has enthusiasm for the marathon and its success and also the North Idaho Centennial Trail,” Mann said. “She’s focused and really wants to make sure everybody that has been doing it for years gets the recognition they deserve. It’s great to see her passion about the event.”

“This is the third year of the Iron Series so we have got to the point that it has evolved into a large enough series that we need to plan this from a funding point of view to do things like banquets,” Rozyla said.

In addition to the Iron Series, a Half-Iron Series event is available for those who’d like to participate in all three but can’t commit to the longer distances.

Signups for the Iron Series events must be done prior to the Coeur d’Alene Marathon.

The marathon also marks the culmination of the 5K to Marathon kids event. The program encourages kids to begin running either on their own, with family or friends, classmates or even church groups, with the final 5K of a 26.2-mile distance of a marathon being run at the May 28 event in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

Originally from Michigan, Rozyla moved to Moscow in 1990. She eventually moved back to Michigan to care for her father before he passed away. She then made her way west again, settling in the Coeur d’Alene area.

“I’ve always been a runner and when I was in high school, there weren’t a lot of girls’ sports, and so we did what we could,” she said. “I became a runner when I was in college, not competitively but just ran for years and years and then got injured and so now I am back in training and getting ready for Ironman, doing a lot of events.”

Currently training for Ironman, Rozyla has learned to manage her time well to meet all of her goals.

“I have all my days planned out, with meetings and other duties and I just insert my training in between,” she said, showing off her day planner and its color-coded schedule. “It takes organization — the blue blocks in here are training times. My coach gives me my schedule based on where I’m at in my training and what I need to do that week and I look at my work schedule and my meetings and I say OK, I have to do swimming and running today so I get it done at this time.”

Rozyla also owns Dog-N-It doggy daycare and kennel at 2900 N. Government Way.

“It’s so easy to gain weight, you have to be vigilant,” she said. “My mom passed and before I was taking care of her and I got out of training, added to life’s stressors. Training is what allows you to be able to handle stuff.”

Rozyla said once she got out of that and got a coach and got a training plan and things started to fall into place.

“As long as you do your training and eat right you’re going to lose weight,” she said. “But you need to be sure to eat enough to make sure your body does not think it’s starving.”

For more information on the Coeur d’Alene Marathon, the 5K to Marathon kids event and the Iron Series, visit www.cdamarathon.com.