Going the distance: Local runners start late, but finish on top
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ARLEE — The snowcapped mountains tower above the horizon in the distance, the few reminders left of winter’s hold, as the rhythmic crunch of Jennifer Kaplan’s running shoes on the dirt road is the only sound resonating for miles. With only 10 days until the first day of spring, Mother Nature seemed to have woken early from her winter nap as the sun rose in the light blue sky and Kaplan’s feet took to the ground.
“Arlee is a great place to train,” Kaplan said. “It’s got hundreds and hundreds of miles of trail. You can run on flats or up the steepest hills you could ever find, or on pavement. It’s just easy to be outside in Arlee.”
Kaplan started running five years ago at age 40 to get in shape. Today, at 45, she is still running strong and has competed in several runs and marathons. She also helps coach young runners on the Arlee High School cross country team.
On April 16, Kaplan will compete in the world-renowned Boston Marathon after qualifying for the race at the Salmon Marathon last year in Idaho. To qualify, Kaplan needed to run a marathon in four hours, and she finished in 3:35. The Boston Marathon will be the third marathon Kaplan has run including the marathon in Idaho and another in California. She has also participated in the Missoula half- marathon, finishing in 1:40, as well as several local races in St. Ignatius and Arlee.
Qualifying for the Boston Marathon is quite a feat for a runner, especially for one who picked up the sport just five years prior.
And though the area around Arlee does not boast big running clubs like the ones in nearby Missoula, Kaplan said the pristine landscape and wide open spaces make for ideal running conditions, especially as the days grow warmer and longer.
Today, Kaplan is not entirely alone as she trots with her husband Kevin Eichhorn and their dogs Yellow Eye, Chica and Pandora.
“Arlee has so much potential … you can run for hundreds of miles,” Eichhorn said just before he and Kaplan started the first incline of their four-mile run.
Like his wife, Eichhorn didn’t start running until he was in his 40s, after recuperating from a torn ACL. He has yet to look back, booking hundreds of miles across Arlee trails and roads.
“I started first, and I used to be faster,” Kaplan shared as the two dashed away.
Though the Boston Marathon draws more than 20,000 competitors and is one of the few marathons that runners need to qualify to compete in. Kaplan explained that generally, people can get into any marathon by simply signing up.
And this spring and summer, there will be no shortage of races throughout the state and locally. Arlee’s annual Buttercup Run is March 31, and the Evaro Mountain Challenge is May 19. Races, challenges and marathons start Jan. 1 and run year-round in Montana and in the region.
Bob Hayes of Evaro is no stranger to the running circuits. At age of 61, Hayes decided to start running, and at 85, the running legend doesn’t intend to stop anytime soon.
Hayes said his children all ran and always encouraged him to take up the sport. In 1987, he finally gave in and has been hooked ever since.
And though he often does not have many competitors in his age division, sometimes running against people 10 to 15 years younger than him. Hayes still musters the competitive edge needed to push himself physically and mentally.
“I tell everyone I have come in first, second and last,” Hayes joked of his small pool of competitors.
Recently, slick conditions have impeded Hayes’ training this winter, but as the weather warms, he finds himself outside more, building up his stamina, running for an hour until getting back to four or five hour runs.
Every June, Hayes runs in a long trail race in Wyoming through the Bighorn Mountains. It is an endurance test of 31 miles but one of Hayes’ favorite runs of the season. Another favorite is the Le Grizz Ultramarathon in October, a 50-mile race on forest roads along Hungry Horse Reservoir. But Hayes said just about every race is his favorite.
He and his late wife, Ann, used to run the Wyoming race together often, despite her having Alzheimer’s disease.
“She would fall about 15 times but it didn’t seem to bother her. She’d laugh, she was a pretty determined runner,” Hayes said.
Like her husband, Ann picked up the sport of running in her 60s.
Hayes remembered Ann telling him, “I’m sick of waiting around for you; I’m going to run, too.”
“It’s a great sport. It does a lot for you health-wise and mentally,” Hayes added. And in Evaro, Hayes is never at a loss for places to train.
He said he loves being able to take off on a gravel road, switch to a logging road and not see a soul for miles.
“It’s really a great place to run,” he said. “From here on out, there will be a race just about every weekend.”
A calendar of upcoming races in Montana can be found at www.Runmt.com, www.polsonrunning.com, or www.runwildmissoula.org.
