Going the Distance

Parkway Goes the Distance

Again for a Good Cause

Russell Hedges

rhedges@bossierpress.com

For the fourth year in a row, the Parkway High cross country team will be ‘Going the Distance’ for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The event will again be held at Preston Crownover Stadium. The 7 p.m. Friday start will coincide with the kickoff of Parkway’s season-opening football game against Calvary Baptist.

The idea is to have someone moving on the track for 24 hours. The Parkway cross country team along with other selected individuals will run during the game. Afterward, anyone can participate by scheduling a time or just showing up.

Participants, who can run or walk for as many laps as they wish, are asked to donate what they can, but anyone who donates a minimum of $15 will receive a free t-shirt.

All proceeds go to St. Jude, which offers free treatment for children with cancer. The event has raised more than $76,000 in the last three years. Parkway coach Kent Falting said the goal this year is to reach $100,000.

About four years ago, Falting and girls basketball coach Aaron Magee used to take nightly walks together during the summer.

It was during one of those walks that they came up with the idea for “Going the Distance.”

“We were trying to come up with an idea for a way to get our kids to sacrifice themselves for someone else,” Falting said.

“We had a lot of kids at Parkway who had been diagnosed with cancer the last couple of years before that.”

One of the things that attracted Falting to St. Jude is that it shares all its research and discoveries with other hospitals for free.

Before Friday’s game, balloons will be released to honor the memory of Odie Harris, an Elm Grove student who died of cancer a few years ago.

Messages can be added to the balloons for a $2 donation. All of those donations will go to St. Jude in Harris’ name.

Food and drinks will be provided for free throughout the event.

Falting says local companies have donated $4,500 to cover the expense of the t-shirts.

They are Dale’s Paving, Chevyland, Magnolia Custom Builders, Mane Cuts, Smartphone Specialists, TNT Sports Bar, Moe’s, Studio Graphics and Anytime Fitness.

Jason Pugh: Parkway cross country goes distance for St. Jude

5:37 PM, Sep 4, 2012 |

A word of warning for those who attend Friday night’s Farmerville-Parkway game at Bossier City’s Preston Crownover Stadium — the people walking the track during the game know exactly what they’re doing and for whom they’re doing it.

For the third consecutive season, Parkway cross country coach Kent Falting’s team and volunteers will circle the track for 24 hours beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, the same time Parkway kicks off against Farmerville in the Panthers’ home opener. The proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., where children battling cancer are treated payment free.

Neither Falting nor Parkway head girls basketball coach Aaron Megee had family members who spent time at St. Jude, but took inspiration from a simple activity they both enjoy.

“A couple of summers ago, we went walking every night,” Falting said. “I had this idea I ran by him. I was looking for some sort of community service project my cross country kids could do so they could stop thinking about themselves and commit themselves to others.”

More than $50,000 later, the school’s commitment is clear.

As the donations climbed, Falting has racheted up his goals for the event.

Log onto www.goingthedistanceforus.comand you will see a goal of $100,000.

Considering the event pulled in a combined $50,000 the last two years, it is a calculated jump Falting wanted to take.

He likened it to coaching his cross-country runners.

“Everyone has a wall in cross country,” Falting said. “They think, ‘Oh I can’t run 3 miles in 16 minutes,’ or, ‘I can’t run 3 miles in 21 minutes.’ They can never hit that goal once they think like that. When they finally break through that barrier, they saw a huge drop in times. They realized you don’t have to put that limitation on themselves. It’s the same kind of mind-set.”

Falting expanded his use of social media to promote this year’s event, setting up a Facebook page to spread the word.

Two summers ago, Falting, who led Parkway’s boys to the 2010 Class 4A state championship, visited St. Jude and saw first-hand how much the money raised in Bossier City was helping chip away at the $2 million-plus-per-day operating costs of the facility.

That good karma has made it back to the stadium track almost without fail the last two years.

“Since this has started, every year people from St. Jude have shown up for this event,” Falting said. “By the time it’s over, a kid from St. Jude has been there for us to give the check to. It’s pretty amazing how it’s happened.”

Connect with Jason Pugh on Twitter at @JasonSPugh.