Runners support the town of St. Ignatius
Karen Peterson photo
Race volunteer Ray Frey has helped with the Buffalo Run since it began 33 years ago.
Karen Peterson photo
Maggie Roddam from the St. Luke team displays this year's race T-shirt.
Karen Peterson photo
This year’s 98 runners take off on the course.
Karen Peterson photo
Zoran Lafrombois, 10, and Ashlee Peterson, 10, finished the 1-mile fun run in first place.
Karen Peterson photo
Crue Cordier, 2, learns how to finish a race with direction from his grandparents.
Karen Peterson photo
Karen Peterson photo
Karen Peterson photo
2015 Buffalo Run Results
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ST. IGNATIUS – Ray Frey, town volunteer, stood at the finish line of the Buffalo Run on Saturday morning to help record race times and to high-five finishers. In the 33-year history of the race, he hasn’t missed one. He credits the runners for helping to make the race last more than three decades.
“Many families come out to this,” he said. “They make it a family thing. That is why it has lasted so long.”
Ninety-eight runners participated this year. The course was redesigned by Burk Foster to create an overlap between the different courses.
“We turned the design around so more people can run together,” said Maggie Roddam, who helped to coordinate the event for St. Luke Community Healthcare, the race sponsor. “This is a great race. Where else can you get a trophy with a buffalo on it?”
The St. Luke team donates the race entry fee to the town.
“The money is used for different things for the community like the fireworks during Good Old Days,” Frey said.
Mission graduate Paden Alexander won one of the buffalo trophies. He is currently on the University of Montana’s cross-country team. He thought he would prepare for the race several days in advance by running the entire half-marathon course, plus the 7-mile course, the 4 mile-course and the 1-mile loop. He kept going to round out the practice run to 35 miles on his GPS.
“I’ve always wanted to run 35 miles,” he said.
But, he didn’t plan enough recovery time.
“I’m still pretty tired,” he said.
While his overtraining didn’t keep him from crossing the finish line first in the half-marathon for the sixth year in a row, it did increase his time by a few seconds.
Local TV news celebrity Jill Valley finished the 7-mile course. Last weekend, she ran a half marathon in Missoula to celebrate her five-year victory over cancer.
“With all the training, I decided to keep going,” she said. “This is a great race. I get to meet a lot of new people.”
Chandler Krahn, 15, and Zane Hafliger, 16, of Charlo, ran the 4-mile loop, which is 1-mile longer than they usually run.
“The last mile was horrible,” Chandler said, adding that he felt an old knee injury flaring up. “But it was fun. I’d do it again.”
Zoran Lafrombois, 10, took first place in the boys 1-mile fun run for the second year. He said it gets easier each year. Ashlee Peterson, 10, took first place in the girls 1-mile fun run.
“I really liked the downhill part,” she said.
Colin Watts traveled to the area from Frenchtown. He ran the 7-mile course and his daughter Maggie ran the 1-mile fun run.
“We come out to see family and enjoy the Good Old Days events,” he said.
