BY ASHLEY LODATO
Danica Kaufman and Joseph Weaver joined four other runners to make up a team for the Sawtooth Relay, which is a nonprofit corporation benefiting the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation and the Idaho Donor Network. The 62-mile run started at the elementary school in Stanley, Idaho, and finished in Ketchum. Teams of six complete the 12 legs of the run, which winds along the Salmon River and has awesome views of the White Cloud Mountains, Pioneer Mountains, and Boulder Mountains, as well as the namesake Sawtooth Mountains (the Idaho ones, not ours).
After flying into Boise on Thursday evening, Danica and Joseph were whisked away to Ketchum, where they were unsuccessful in their celebrity sighting attempts. After being transported to Stanley, Idaho, on Friday, the two camped out at Red Fish Lake with their team and set their alarms for 2 a.m. (The race starts at 3:30 a.m. in order to take advantage of the beautiful dawn views of the mountains.)
Everyone was ready on time and the first runner set off with the pack. Official results aren’t out yet, but according to Joseph, the team “kicked butt” but was “ready for some Zs by the sixth leg.”
Revived by some Pringles, however, they finished the 62 miles in just under 10 hours and it was with great relief that they realized they had come in well ahead of the team wearing tutus.
Hearing about the Pringles might make health guru Dr. Andrew Weil cringe, but fortunately he was too busy touring Bluebird Grain Farms and talking with Brooke and Sam about soil health, food health, and human health. Yes, Andrew Weil was in Winthrop last week. Talk about celebrity sightings!
My former part-time neighbor Jim McDonald has decided not to run for a city council position in Bremerton for a second term. However, he wasn’t quick enough to step back when the Edelweiss board was looking for volunteers and he was promptly put back on that board, which he has been a part of on and off over the years. With so many nonprofits in the valley, it’s probably a good idea for most of us to follow Jim’s lead and step forward when a board needs us, even if our lives are already seemingly full.
We heard from some other former neighbors, too. Brian and Amy Sweet are eight weeks into a hike on the Appalachian Trail and are about to enter the Shenandoah National Park. Apparently the 17-year cicada hatch just happened and it’s deafening in the woods. The Sweets say it sounds like a hundred distant hand drills whirring.
