Editorial

Join us for our second 'Journal Jog'

By Jim Blow
Editor
Valley Journal
The clock is ticking, with just 44 days left to the start of that infamous first step.
The Valley Journal Marathon is just six weeks and change away. The 26.2-mile marathon, plus a 13.1-mile half-marathon race, will be held Saturday morning, Sept. 5 this year.
And though the distances might seem daunting, both will start with just one step.
And hopefully you are on track to be ready for race day.
If you have been running for a while but haven't been training for half-marathon distances already, you still have a little time to gear up for our half-marathon. But, that's assuming you've been running regularly, putting in training runs of 5 to 7 miles.
The marathon preparation requires even more distance work in training runs, so you really shouldn't consider it unless you've had a steady 16-to-24 weeks of training that's built up your weekly miles to 30-35, including some long 15-to-20-mile runs.
If you are new to running, think "Next year..." First go see your doctor and tell him or her that you want to know if you are healthy enough to start a running program. Then go home and set some realistic goals to build up gradually to running.

Start with a one-mile walk/run and build up to three miles, eventually without any walking. Run in some 5-kilometer races, plan ahead for some 10-Ks and build up to a half-marathon, maybe with the ultimate goal of being ready for next year's Valley Journal Marathon on Labor Day weekend.
All runners, whether beginner or veteran, can benefit from a training plan. To establish your own training plan and find some good advice on everything from training schedules to nutrition to shoes, visit web sites like www.runnersworld.com and www.marathonrookie.com.
We've once again scheduled the marathon for Labor Day weekend. By then we should be through the worst of the heat and whatever lingering smoke from any regional wildfires. Last year was just about perfect and we're hoping to have yet another beautiful day for a jog through the valley.
This year's Valley Journal Marathon and half-marathon courses have changed. We're starting in Ronan and running up through the North Crow area just like we did last year. But, instead of looping back after reaching the Mud Lake area, we're heading back over to the walking path along U.S. 93 and heading toward Polson. Both the marathon and half-marathon courses will wind through the walking path down into Polson and finish at Riverside Park.
You can always park your car in Ronan near the starting line and hitch a ride back to Ronan with someone after the marathon is over. But, you don't have to. We'll have shuttle buses that take runners from the finish line/registration area at Riverside Park in Polson to the starting lines of the marathon and half-marathon. But, be early because the last bus leaves a half-hour before the races start.
You can register the morning of the race an hour before the start at Riverside Park. But I'd recommend you download our registration form now — go to www.valleyjournal.net and click on the Valley Journal Marathon button to pull up the registration form. Print it out, attach your check and send it in soon.
We can't guarantee t-shirts will be available if you register late.
The races start early, with a 6 a.m. marathon start and an 8:30 half-marathon start. The early start means we'll finish before the any real heat might arrive. Add in the transit time for the shuttle bus and early registration and you'll need to get to Riverside Park pretty early. If you show up an hour before the start time, you will comfortably be able to park, grab a shuttle bus and warm up at your starting line.
We'll have aid stations along the route, with some porta-potties at key locations. Full-marathoners may bring their own "drop bags" for positioning at specific aid stations. Just mark your bag with your name and which aid station it should be placed at. Bring it to the starting line and we'll have someone drop it off for you.
If you would like to volunteer to help out on the course as a turn monitor, aid station helper, registration helper, traffic router or post-race helper, we'd sure love to have you. Please email me at vjeditor@valleyjournal.net and let me know where you'd like to help out. Also, if your church or senior center would be willing to donate the use of your small bus, we could sure use some extra shuttle buses. Again, please send me an email.
This will very likely be a small marathon and half-marathon, but that's okay with us. The marathon was meant to give local runners an opportunity to run some distance races in our valley, as well as promote fitness. We've tried to plan it around the other running events in the valley to compliment the growing opportunities available to locals who want to get and stay fit.
I know a lot of you have been building up to our marathon through those many other races. If you haven't quite got your miles up to where they should be, consider our half-marathon or take in some of the other races and start planning ahead for next year's marathon.
I'm not a running coach, so don't take this as expert advice. But I sure hope you can find the simple joy of fitness and running that I enjoy. I'm not much of a competitive runner and I'm certainly not fast. But I do really enjoy the benefits of running.
Know right off the bat that this is a marathon, not a sprint. And it really is about the journey, not just the finish.
Do yourself a big favor and start your journey now.

Letters to the editor

Cherry Festival brings back memories

Editor,
What a nice event the Cherry Festival in Polson was. It makes me remember all the hustle and bustle that used to go on at the Cherry Warehouse on First Street West in downtown Polson. The first year it opened, my dad, Slim Coppedge, was the manager. He often recalled how hard the work was that first year.
The cherries came in by the pickup load and went out by the boxcar load. Rail cars came right up to the plant and were loaded. For three weeks, the harvest was sorted and packed, three shifts a day for some of the time, which meant little sleep for the manager. One of those mornings he packed me out to the car to accompany my mother while she drove out to the east shore to inform each cherry grower that the warehouse couldn't take any more cherries until the plant could process what they already had. I guess there weren’t any phones or cell phones on the east shore at that time, or refrigeration for the cherries.
The high school boys worked in the plant wood shop, cutting and nailing together the boards into boxes, then pasting the Flathead Sweet Cherries label on the ends. This was before pneumatic nail guns. The nails were pounded in one at a time, and the young workers had the stamina to hit them all shift long. The wood shop was in the mezzanine up the stairs from the concrete floor that was always slippery from the smashed cherries and pits. My grandpa, Otis Coppedge, was in charge of the wood shop that first year; I know, because my parents unwittingly let me walk barefoot up those stairs to see him, and I was taken home with a nail stuck in my foot.
The other young guys were box boys, taking away the packed cherry boxes that the girls sorted and packed and then delivering more cherries to the girls to be sorted and packed. The culls dropped down into another box to be carted away, and the good cherries stayed on top of the packing stand to be hand-packed. The boxes were packed loosely until the top layer, and that layer got special handling. The cherries were packed side by side in rows to stun the person who opened the box. It was a beautiful package.
That's where Jerry Fisher courted Patsy Mix one summer when she was packing cherries. The quicker she packed a box, the sooner Jerry could run to her with another box to be sorted, and so on. She almost set a record that summer packing cherries.
The next summer Daddy was replaced as manager and Grandpa went back to the golf course as greenskeeper – it was called "caretaker" then. Daddy worked for the next five or six summers at the warehouse outside under the overhang, selling culls. The best cherries were packed and shipped, but the ones that didn't meet the shipping standards were sold at deep discounts for canning and eating. People would buy the culls by the box, can them in clear, glass jars and look forward to the cold days of winter when they could enjoy a home-canned jar of Flathead Sweet Cherries with their sweet purple syrup.
He worked a large, ornate, chrome cash register that made a loud clang when the drawer opened. The boxes of cherries were weighed on a large balance scale on wheels that had seen better days. He liked to work in the culls; it was good, physical exercise for him and gave him the only vacation he had away from his insurance office. My sister and mother would keep the office open for him, and he would be in a better mood the rest of the year.
Sharon Fulton
Polson