​It’s fall, or almost.
 
Though the past few days haven’t felt like that. As I sit here in my kitchen, it’s about 85 degrees upstairs in my house. I’ve only turned my air conditioning on a handful of times this summer – I can’t stand being cooped up in a closed house – but it’s testing me more than ever today.
 
Maybe I’m just ready to be done with it. I want crisp, cool air. I want leaves crunching under my feet. I want to start wearing ankle boots and stop painting my toenails.
 
My social media feeds have been full of people doing what we all love to do this time of year: Spend time outside.
 
Trail running. Ultramarathons. Hikes through state parks. Bike races.
 
Here in Sioux Falls, our options for those things is getting better every day.
 
Last year, I wrote about Falls Area Single Track, a local nonprofit raising money to build trails at Tuthill Park. They hired a firm out of Rapid City to build professional trails, and as of this week, they have about 1.5 miles built and have raised about $55,000 of $75,000 needed.
 
The hope is for another 2 or 3 miles at the park, built in a way to make it accessible for most levels of mountain biker, and created in a sustainable way that doesn’t require constant maintenance – a lesson FAST learned after building a few miles of trails at Leaders Park.
 
The group is holding a fundraiser at Fernson on Wednesday to make the last push to build the trails. The event, which begins at 6 p.m., includes several raffle items – including a bike and a pair of trail shoes. And Fernson will give $1 of each beer sold to the group.
 
The Sioux Falls Area Running Club also is giving money to FAST. Profits from the trail race series – which includes the run at Good Earth State Park this weekend – will go to the nonprofit.
 
It’s part of giving back to the community and supporting other recreation groups.
 
“We’ve already started planning to try and help with trail maintenance days and getting the two groups together for some joint relay events,” club president Nathan Schwab said recently.
FAST board member Clay Austin said he’s all in on working with other groups to spread the word.
 
In the decade or so since FAST got started, they’ve already heard from grateful neighbors like those near Leaders Park who were happy they had somewhere new to go for after-dinner walks.
 
Building trails isn’t just about making a place for mountain bikers.
 
It’s about making a place for recreation in Sioux Falls.
 
Those of you who read this blog know that our family does it all – I’ve been running for a long time – nearly 30 years at this point, from the day I laced up my running shoes for high school track – and I was a mountain biker in college. Then I took time to just tool around on a bike with my kids and now I’ve been doing cyclocross (which is stupid fun, come join me).

Beyond that, I like to just be outside. I drag my kids to road races and trail races and now weekend-long bike race events. I make them go hiking with me every Mother’s Day and endure their complaining while we wander in the woods.
 
I like it all.
 
And I like it the most when I can do it right here in Sioux Falls, when I can be out there with my friends and family, and give a nod or a high-five to a familiar face on the trail. When I know the money I give isn’t just for me – it’s for dog-walkers and Mother’s Day and some kid who says, hey, I wonder where that goes.
 
I broke my arm earlier this spring – and whined mightily about it on this blog – and when I went for my check-up, the hand surgeon said she had been thinking of me because she and her son, who is about 10, were riding their bikes along the bike path. They saw the split in a fence along the side, the dirt path, and dipped down.
 
They rode the single-track trails through the woods.
 
And had a blast.
 
These are trails that FAST built and maintains.
 
And here was a mom and a curious son and that moment as a parent when you just say, “sure,” to a kid, because why not? As a parent you say a lot of “no.” And sometimes you have to ask yourself why – is there some legitimate reason you can’t say yes to ice cream after dinner or hammering nails into this random piece of wood or taking a detour to who knows where on the side of the bike path.

A lot of the time, there’s no real reason to not say yes.
 
And because of this opportunity that FAST created – not just for mountain bikers or trail runners – this mom and her son were able to say they spent part of their day mountain biking.
 
I love this.
 
And I want to support it. I have to go to a meeting on Wednesday to talk about how to help recruit runners to the Jingle Bell 5K the weekend after Thanksgiving – let me know if you need details on the race – but when I’m done, I hope to swing over to Fernson and have a beer and buy a raffle ticket.
 
I’ll find out when the next trail maintenance night is, and drag myself out to do what needs to be done.
 
Sign up for one of the running club races – there’s still Newton Hills if you’re not ready for Good Earth this weekend.
 
Do whatever it takes to support the many local nonprofits trying to make better recreation a possibility in our community.
 
Being outside is all I want to do. I want to eat outside, sleep outside, take a walk or go for a run or ride to the park with the kids. I want a picnic. I want coffee on the deck. I want the windows open when I sleep, a fan whirring or curtains blowing.
 
I want to see a ribbon of dirt peek out from the trees and know that if I take a step on it, it will take me somewhere I need to be.
 
Wherever that is.
 
Thanks, FAST, for helping make it happen. Cheers to you on Wednesday.

​Jacqueline Palfy is a longtime runner, reader and writer, marathoner, mom and board member of the nonprofit Sioux Falls Area Running Club. Her contributions to the 605 Running Co. blog will appear every other Tuesday. You can follow her on Twitter @runnerJPK or reach her at [email protected]. Story ideas are encouraged.

​The first thing you notice about Kamie Peterson is her smile.

Next it’s her eyes – big and wide open and always looking right into yours.

And then it’s her ready laugh and ability to make you feel like you’ve been friends forever, even if you just met. She’s sisterly and kind and curious about everyone she meets.

But put her in a wetsuit, on a bike or running, and she changes to her game face.

The 43-year-old mom of three has been all over the regional triathlon scene this summer, racing and placing and figuring out that her new love is multisport.

Peterson has been a long-distance runner for several years – she ran in high school and then took a hiatus to start and raise a family. When she was 35, her daughter suggested a run after Easter brunch, and Peterson went along.

“We ran 2 miles, and I thought, oh, that was fun,” Peterson laughs. She kept it up, adding miles every week until she was basically in constant shape to run half-marathons and other races.
 After a few years, she was ready for a new challenge: Triathlon.

“I knew it was something that was going to be hard to do. And to do all three of those events back to back as fast as you possibly can is such a huge challenge, and that’s what I wanted,” she says.
Peterson has always loved swimming.

“It comes easy for me,” she says. She especially loves open water swimming, which can be a barrier for people new to the sport.

“I try not to think about what’s in the water, just fish swimming by me, and as long as I can’t see what’s in the water, I’m fine,” she laughs.

So that part wasn’t tough.

As for biking, like many of us, she’s been riding a bike since she was a kid, but nothing serious. She bought a road bike. Like most triathletes, she quickly realized she wanted a faster bike. So she bought a second one. That lasted a season, and now she’s moved on to a triathlon-specific bike.
“If you don’t have the right bike, it can really affect your time,” Peterson says. Still, she says starting with what she had was just fine, and the triathlon community welcomed her with open arms.

She was intimidated the first time she lined up for a triathlon – just not knowing what to expect. But when she got done, she couldn’t wait to line up again.

“And that’s the way I’ve felt now after every one.”

She has a few more races left this year and hopes to do a half-Ironman one day. Her training is still a long run of about 10 miles every week – to stay half-marathon ready – and then swimming a few times a week and biking once a week.

“I’m not really hardcore,” Peterson says. “I’m just trying to keep moving in the right direction.”

In large part, she credits the other participants with helping pull her along in that direction – which has ended on the podium for several races.
​
“The people I’ve met in the running world and triathlon world are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met,” Peterson says. “I have friends that I’ll have forever from both worlds. That makes it so much more fun – having good friends surrounding you and doing the things you love.”

​Jacqueline Palfy is a longtime runner, reader and writer, marathoner, mom and board member of the nonprofit Sioux Falls Area Running Club. Her contributions to the 605 Running Co. blog will appear every other Tuesday. You can follow her on Twitter @runnerJPK or reach her at [email protected]. Story ideas are encouraged.