Leadman gives back
KELLOGG — With the help of sponsors and athletes, Kellogg Rotary and Silver Mountain raised enough money to donate to multiple local community organizations during the annual triathlon Leadman.
The event, which was presented by Dave Smith GMC, raised $10,500.
“Leadman would not be possible without help from our community,” said Gus Colburn, marketing manager for Silver Mountain. “Leadman takes around 100 volunteers to make the event as smooth as possible.”
One of the groups volunteering its time was the Kellogg High School Class of 2026, which had 20 students and parents volunteer their time assisting at check-in and water stations the day of the race.
Parent volunteer Nicole Lewis explained, “the money donated was used for the Class of 2026 fund, which paid for the student’s eighth grade fun day before school was out. The remainder of the funds will carry over with the students to the high school. We are so grateful to be a beneficiary from Leadman grants.”
The other benefitting groups included the KHS Band, KHS Girls Basketball, Silver Valley Cat Wranglers, Shoshone County Fire District No. 2, Pinehurst Elementary, Shoshone Pet Rescue, Kellogg Storm Football and the Shoshone Medical Center Foundation.
“Each organization that volunteers requests a monetary amount as a donation,” Colburn said. “The Rotary Club does its best to meet each organization’s request, and priority is given to the organizations that can provide volunteers for the event. Any money left over is allocated to organizations that requested but could not provide volunteers.”
Colburn also explained that there are a lot of logistics to plan since there are transition areas after the ski and bike legs where people leave their gear.
“We had lots of positive comments from athletes this year about how fun and energetic the volunteer groups were,” he said.
During Leadman 2022, four local participants and one team (the Sunnyside Shady Ladies from Kellogg), were among the winners. In addition, Kelton Enich and Scott Albrethson from Kellogg, Kyla Berendzen of Wardner and Michelle Castro of Kingston, were among the notable local winners.
Leadman takes place at the end of April, with signups beginning in February. For more information, go to www.silvermt.com.