This week’s sports section features some great storylines, like it does most weeks.
It includes student-athletes excelling and advancing to the playoffs (which also requires keeping their grades up in the classroom), others who are pushing to make it to the postseason, a man in the midst of his own huge challenge (running across the country) taking time out multiple weeks in a row to run with and mentor Pagosa Springs High School runners, and more.
It also includes a story we find noteworthy not because it showed who was the fastest, strongest or could score the most points, but because it shows the power of being a good human.
At last week’s regional cross-country meet, Lady Pirate harrier Madisen Stretton was on her way to one of the best runs of her high school career when she came upon another runner who had fallen.
She could have easily continued running — like others probably had and would continue to do (after all, it was a competitive sporting event and everyone wanted to qualify for state) — but she didn’t.
She stopped. She helped her fellow runner up. And she continued to jog with her at her pace, hand in hand, to the finish line, sacrificing her own personal record.
People like Madi are one reason we love to call this place home, and we are so proud of her actions on that day.
While coach Josh Kurz notes her actions embodied the spirit of cross-country, we think it embodies much more than that. It embodies what we should all strive to do — help each other out to help make this world a little better.
Thankfully, many in our community seek to do just that.
This is a community full of people who step up when needed and continually gives to ensure this community can move forward and invest in itself.
This year alone we’ve seen community members step up to help when neighbors and friends were evacuated due to fire and flood, hop in to volunteer with cleanup, and given to relief funds and organizations.
Now, we’re seeing numerous groups, organizations and individuals stepping up to help make sure our area’s food pantries have enough food to help our neighbors affected by the government shutdown. In this week’s PREVIEW, you’ll find multiple food drives and other ways to donate if you’re able to and would like to.
We also see the community step up in so many other ways, among them providing a fun and safe trick-or-treat experience for the area’s kids Saturday at the Halloween Hootenanny, helping to fund the expansion of the Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library by naming extraordinary women, donating toys to the annual toy drive ahead of the holidays and items to Operation Christmas Child.
This is a community that continues to give, year-round, to make our part of the world a better place, and we’re encouraged at the idea of how much better it could be if more people gave back to their community.
But, even if you can’t give money or items because you’re facing challenges yourself, people like Madi are a great reminder that sometimes the best thing to give is our time, attention and care.
Randi Pierce
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