Chanute and Iola do many things well. Both enjoy strong community support, rich historical backgrounds and special events. One the two cities are not known for — is doing things together.
The goal of next Saturday’s Portland Alley Marathon looks to change that fact. The marathon is a Thrive Allen County event, co-sponsored with the Chanute Regional Development Authority or CDRA.
Up until now, any word with the prefix “co” has been few and far between for the two communities.
“Growing up in Iola, I have always been aware of the aspect of competition with Chanute,” said David Toland, executive director of Thrive.
He has been organizing the marathon with Tim Fairchild, a member of the CDRA, for the past several months. Fairchild said competition can be healthy in certain aspects of the community, but in many ways it can hinder economic development and relationships.
“Rivalry between the communities generally runs from about 6 to 9 p.m. on Fridays nights,” Fairchild said, “and that’s the only place it should be.”
The healthy sports rivalry between the two communities has not become anything close to an issue in the planning of the event, said Toland. In fact, he said it has been refreshing to joke about rivalries with his neighbors from Chanute.
Fairchild said a collaboration can be helpful for many aspects of the community. He said working together on a recreational event is “good practice” for people to get used to working together. From that point, he said people can take their experiences working with Iola to make real changes in the community.
“It’s good to have practice working together,” Fairchild said. “It really sets the stage for economic development.”
Toland supported Fairchild’s opinion, saying that the proximity of Chanute and Iola is too good of an opportunity to pass up. He said people are generally “stronger together” and what is good for one city can be good for another.
While successes are something the communities share, they share in economic struggles as well.
“Chanute and Iola have similar demographics,” Toland said. “We have struggling economies and challenging health issues.”
The health issues are a main reason for creating events like Portland Alley, and Fairchild hopes to see some changes in people’s habits. He said after he started the “Journey through the Jungle” sprint triathlon in Chanute, he has already seen the effects of healthy living.
In reference to producing a 5K fun run in Iola and a sprint-triathlon in Chanute, Toland said the marathon has been a “massive logistical undertaking.” The two organizers have been working on registration, route selection, traffic safety, aid stations, and the list goes on. He said if people don’t work together void of any ego or rivalry issues, these aspects of the marathon would not be completed. Toland summed up his work with Fairchild by saying people often have misconceptions about relationships between the communities.
“We really don’t want to put ‘fuel on the fire,’” Toland said. “The fact of the matter is, will actually like each other.”
This race is not a competition
