Welcome 2026 and Season Twenty-Five!
Welcome to Season 25 of the Platte River Fitness Series! We hope to continue to live our “why” by “bringing people and causes together in a collaborative effort so that individuals can achieve whole human health in a flourishing community.” In this, our Silver Anniversary year, we will also be continuing to build on our Four Foundations that give shape and structure to the work we do. Our Four Foundations include the core value that “everyone is an athlete, deserving of an opportunity to discover what that means for them.” We also hold as foundational the idea that human health means whole human health, and physical activity supports both improved physical well-being and mental well-being. Healthy people create healthy communities, and healthy communities are better places to live. We hold true the idea that individual commitment to whole human health flourishes best with the support of a broader community and that whole human health requires an acknowledgement that we are hard-wired for connection and belonging, and that connection and belonging are essential to good health.
In last month’s newsletter, I explained some incremental innovations we are making for 2026. Incremental innovations are small changes that make what we are already doing better. We will be adding a couple of incremental innovations in 2027 as well. These will include enhancing the Marathon Kids program through a formal scholarship program and the development of a points system for volunteers. I think it is helpful to keep changes small. After all, that is the best strategy for habit development, and we are in the good habit business.
The 2026 schedule looks very similar to 2025. There will be a “pause” on the Sillassen Half-Marathon & 5K for 2026 but, in celebration of our 25th Anniversary, the Hershey Adventure 5K “Re-Run” will return in late August. The Power of Purple 5K & Mile, hosted by RDAP will be adding Bridge of Hope to the beneficiaries of the race proceeds. The Richard Deckert Virtual Challenge will add a bit of “small step” coaching to your weekly submissions. We are still waiting on a final date for the Lake-to-Lake Relay in October, which I anticipate will be announced and added soon.
The Platte River Fitness Series will continue to support athletes, and everyone is an athlete. As a community, we will continue to support 18 organizations and causes, and Great Plains Health and West Central District Health Department will continue to be our partners. We are grateful for additional support from Blakely Enterprises, Paloucek, Herman and Wurl Law, The 1867 Collective, Bible Supplies, Aspyr Professional Group, Merritt Family Trucking, and the generous people who donate to the PRFS through Giving Day and Year-End Giving. The work gets done because of the generosity of a remarkable team of people dedicated to service to others. We continually benefit from the City of North Platte parks, the Rec Center and the incredible work of the North Platte Trails Network. The PRFS represents the mutuality between people that allows everyone to flourish.
Each event is a separate opportunity. When we put them together, we offer additional goals and motivation, a method proven effective in helping athletes build healthier lives. The Points Challenge is all about showing up, about participation, about joining in. When I say there is a place for everyone at our starting lines, I mean it. Showing up can lead to a championship. We know that the way a person sees themselves has an impact on the development of habits and abilities. It matters that when you look in the mirror, you see the fullness of who you are, and that fullness includes being an athlete. Our bodies are made to move. We are closer to ourselves in motion. All abilities are welcomed, and we celebrate walkers, runners, and our beloved “woggers,” those who do a bit of both. Any pace is a great pace and much better than the sedentary pace of sitting at home. Pace is never static. We can, and many do, improve our finishing times even as we jump up to a new age group. Improvement can continue even when our times begin to slow. We add good quality years, improving the possibility of a longer health span through activity and social connection.
When we put 18 events together, we create a cross-generational community where all ages are welcomed. The senior athletes teach younger athletes. The younger athletes give vibrancy to their elders. The older athletes give wisdom, the younger athletes give life. Together, true community has been created and when that community is cross-generational, everyone benefits. The string of events creates an additional goal of striving to finish each one. The research tells us that we actually need challenge and struggle. We can’t grow without it. We value most what costs something. Showing up to each event can be incredibly challenging. Luckily, the community even more than the Ultimate Finisher designation makes it worthwhile.
The Platte River Fitness Series is a grassroots effort. You make it so. When you share your experience, invite a friend, make new friends, offer to help, you move our “Why” and our Four Foundations forward. There will be opportunities in 2026 to celebrate a milestone I certainly didn’t expect. I am grateful. I commit to continuing to lead by a principal from Mother Teresa, called “Just One.” If we help just one person thrive, just one, then that one person helps another and then that one another, this is how we create real change. This is how we create community. Welcome to 2026!