Keystone Games torch passes through area
The torch that two runners carried through Fayette County on Monday wasn’t on its way to Athens, Greece, or any other Olympic city. However, it will light a torch that will burn throughout another series of games.
Melodee Gett of Indiana, Pa., and Denni Arnold of Windber, Somerset County, are running down the back roads of Pennsylvania to deliver the flame to the Keystone State Games. The Torch Run started in Canonsburg a few hours before their appearance in Fayette County, and will end in York on Friday.
“People have been cheering us on,” said Gett. “We’ve seen people pulling off the side of the road to take pictures and give us a thumbs up.”
The torch has made a few pit stops along the road, so that people may have the opportunity to hold the torch and have their pictures taken. “They’re not aware of the Keystone State Games,” said Arnold, who as event coordinator aspires to draw more attention to the games.
The games are modeled after the Olympics and are open only to Pennsylvania’s athletes, according to Gett. The annual multi-sport competitions allow amateur athletes to compete against others from throughout the state.
Because of the sponsorship that the games have gained from Columbia Gas, the 25-year-old traditional Torch Run’s route will lengthen.
“This year, we’ve expanded our route,” said Gett. “Other years, it’s been two days. This year, it’s five days.”
Arnold, who used to run Ohiopyle’s 70-mile-long trail and participate in ultra-marathons, started the 500-mile run that passed through Brownsville, Uniontown and Connellsville and completed more than 40 miles Monday.
Gett joined him on and off throughout the first day of running and plans to continue striding alongside Arnold throughout the long road to York. While Gett doesn’t have Arnold’s extensive background when it comes to distance running, she has worked out all her life by partaking in Pilates, weightlifting and jogging a few miles on her treadmill.
“Denni has me running, and I enjoy it,” she said. “To be out here on the road running is a totally different experience than jogging on the treadmill.”
Today, they plan to leave Somerset and run through Everett, Breezewood, McConnellsburg, Fort Loudon and finish in Chambersburg. They will venture through Fayetteville and onto Harrisburg on Wednesday. The torch travels through Hershey and finishes in Reading on the fourth day.
Finally, they will travel through Lancaster and Columbia to finish at the York Expo Center at 7 p.m. to start the opening ceremonies Friday.
Arnold and Gett plan to recruit more people to participate in the Torch Run for the Keystone State Games in the years to come. This year, they intend to meet up with some running clubs and teams, so that they may have the opportunity to run with the torch for a leg of its journey.