Kahner’s Kourage: 12-Year-Old with Cystic Fibrosis Overcomes Heat and Health Challenges to Place 5th Overall in Little Loggers Race
By Kevin Rauch
HYNER – Twelve year old Kahner Stewart has dealt with Cystic Fibrosis his entire life. Still, other than his parents Kyle and Amber and his younger brother Kohen, you really wouldn’t know that he deals with the genetic disorder that impairs the normal clearance of mucus from the lungs. His family sees the twice daily inhalers and nebulizers in action, but outside of the house the young basketball player lives a pretty typical life for a boy his age.
Although his Mom loves to keep him active, she did have some reservations as she signed him up for the Little Loggers race that takes place at the Western Clinton Sportsmen’s Association every June. The 2.75 mile race that includes well over 200 hundred participants in late June has almost become the younger brother of the Hyner Challenge, even held by the PA Trail Dogs and longtime leader and founder Craig Fleming, the spearhead behind that event.
The race features kids 12 years of age and younger, some travelling from out of state to take on their fellow competitors and the Sproul State Forest. The late June date also typically sees the summer heat in full force and sure enough, the ninety-plus degree heat came just in time Sunday morning.
For Kahner’s parents, the run was a bit of a concern, the heat and competition increased that even more.
Kahner’s Mom Amber has founded a Cystic Fibrosis fund-raising source titled Kahner’s Crew, which his mom explained raises between $4000-$6000 every Flaming Foliage Festival for Cystic Fibrosis research. Recently members of Kahner’s Crew took part in the Great Strides 5K walk in Lock Haven.
To her surprise, Kahner asked his mom if he could run the event just for fun. After taking off for 6 miles, the North Bend youngster did great in a warm up to the Little Loggers.
As the Stewart family set up for the Little Loggers, Kahner was one of 249 participants. With the sweltering sun bearing down, Amber said she made Kahner aware of the aid station half way through. The anxious mother admitted that she had her phone in hand, wondering if reaching the aid station was as far as her son would make it in his first run.
As the whistle blew to begin the race, nerves grew to the point that the Stewarts hadn’t even sat down yet as the first couple of runners were crossing the finish line.
After the first few participants crossed the line Kohen shouted “there’s Kahner”. To his parent’s disbelief, the younger brother was correct; Kahner was the 5th runner to the finish line out of 249 fellow kids. The finish would nab a remarkable 2nd place of 24:20 (24 minutes and 20 seconds) in his age group of 11-12 year old boys.
“I was blown away, I never imagined that he would do that good, he’s a rock star for sure” Amber said of her son hours after the race. “We talked to an adult that ran on the trail yesterday and she said it wasn’t easy, there was some elevation” she added.
Adding to the pride that the Stewarts felt was the relationship that they have formed with Craig Fleming. For years the owner and founder of PA Trail Dogs have offered the Stewarts trail socks to sell with the proceeds going to Kahner’s Crew. Kahner proudly posed for pictures with Fleming, the guru of all things Hyner trail running after the race.
As for Kahner’s future running ambitions, it sounds like there may be a future on the horizon.
“As proud as we all were, he was frustrated with the 2nd place finish in his group” laughed his Mom. “We can’t help but to think he had some help from up above, we’re just so proud of his performance.”
