BELLE FOURCHE—Runners and walkers, including kids and dogs, began arriving at Rail Park for the annual Belle Fourche Rec Center River Run on the evening of June 5, bringing a lively, family-friendly energy to the event.
The walk/run took place in the picturesque setting along the Belle Fourche River, utilizing the River Walk.
The journey started and ended in downtown Belle Fourche on State Street at Rail Park.
The gathering for the River Run is the official kickoff to the Riverfest. “That was our intention, kind of a kickoff to the weekend, and each year we’re trying to just add a little bit more to it. It’s an up-and-back route, so really people can go as far as they want to and turn around and come back, and that’s what makes it nice for kids,” explained Tessa Anderson-Voyles, program coordinator.
There was no set length to achieve. Each participant was able to determine the amount of time and distance they would dedicate to the walk/run. That is one of the nice parts of the River Run: participants can choose to walk or run and can pick the distance they want to complete.
“We have a few people out on the route just to kind of help guide them if they want to turn around or they need water or whatever—but just people to check on them,” said Anderson-Voyles.
The route goes from State Street to the 8th Avenue River Walk path. Walkers could choose to turn around and return to Rail Park at any spot along the path. If the route was followed around to the end of the paved path back on State Street and then turned around and walked the same route back, the distance would be 1.9 miles.
When participants got to State Street and continued on until they reached the stop light and then turned around and retraced the path, it would be 2.6 miles. Those wanting a little more mileage could add the route that went down through the flags at the Tri-State Museum for a total of 2.75 miles.
The Rec Center staff kept track of everyone’s time so each participant would know how long the race took them to complete. Race numbers were assigned to each participant. “We usually do, in part so we can keep track of them, because we don’t know everybody’s name, so then when they come back, we can check off—oh, number 68 came back through, and make sure we have everybody,” shared Anderson-Voyles. “And some people like them and think they’re kind of fun, and other people think they’re kind of cumbersome. Some people make sure they write their time down on them when they’re done and put them in their memory book.”
To enter the race, it was a modest fee of $10 for adults and $5 for kids. Special River Run T-shirts for the race were $10. Snacks, water, and door prizes were provided.
The River Run is just one of the run/walks that the Belle Fourche Rec Center puts on throughout the year. Each year they work on making the run bigger and better. Anderson-Voyles said, “we just keep building on it every year. So next year we have some ideas in place. We’d actually like to get a few musicians out on the route—some music along the route. So that’s our big goal for next year!”
See more pictures and read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
