McClure, Borrego Hit Marathon Heights

by Gary Franchi | Sep 01, 2005

h2>September, 2005 Fit to be Tied Column From the Pueblo Chieftain
by Gary Franchi

McClure, Borrego Hit Marathon Heights

While many enjoyed a three-day Labor Day weekend of leisure, several area runners had their working shoes on. Two of them in particular earned themselves some serious talking points.

Cañon City’s Sam McClure, 52, celebrated becoming a member of the national 50 Staters club by completing the Pocatello Marathon in Idaho on Sept. 3 with a time of 4:26:51. McClure has now run a marathon in all 50 U.S. states.

Meanwhile, Pueblo’s Emily Borrego qualified for the Boston Marathon by running a 3:45:20 in the American Discovery Trail Marathon on Labor Day in Colorado Springs. Borrego was the third female overall in the field and set a new course record in the 35-39 female age division.

In Pocatello, McClure crossed the finish line hand in hand, arms aloft with fellow Cañon City runner Marv Bradley, who became a member of the 50 Staters club himself in December 2002 and now is closing in on doing it again, being just nine shy a “Double 50.” He was first among the 62 finishers in his 65-69 age division in Pocatello.

Also finishing in Pocatello was Cheryl Cook-McCoy of Salida in 5:51:44. She was second in the 60-64 age division. Like Bradley, Cook-McCoy has nine states remaining in her quest to finish a marathon in all 50 states.

McClure, a private criminal defense lawyer, didn’t begin running marathons until 1990, when he ran Chicago. He’s made up for lost time, though, and now estimates that he has completed approximately 70-75 marathons with a personal best of 3:09 in Chicago in 1991.

He got the distant, non-contiguous ones – Alaska and Hawaii – out of the way during the past 13 months. Alaska was crossed off in August 2004 when he ran the Humpy’s Classic, and Hawaii got the check mark when he did the Big Island Marathon in March of this year.

In Pocatello, he stopped just before the 26-mile mark to wait for Bradley, who had run the first 22 miles with McClure before slowing down because of a hamstring injury that has plagued him for several weeks.

“I’m happy I waited for him because it was nice to finish together,” McClure recalled fondly.

Wary of wearing out his knees, McClure admitted his marathon days are numbered and eventually he intends to take up triathlons instead. First, though, he’s doing the Columbus (Ohio) Marathon on Oct. 16 because that is the site of the only marathon he failed to complete.

“That’s unfinished business out there,” he noted, adding that he also hopes to run the DC Marathon next year and one more Chicago Marathon, probably in two years, before possibly giving up the long distances.

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Besides Borrego, eight other area runners completed the American Discovery Trail Marathon on Monday. From Pueblo unless noted were Donnall Smith, 37, in 3:43; Lori Meloni, 29, of Cañon City in 4:01; Russell Brown, 34, in 4:02; Cathy Osban, 36, in 4:09; Chalea Walter, 27, of Cañon City in 4:11; Gary Hermes, 41, of Pueblo West in 4:19; Chris Roman, 37, in 4:20; and Krista Mays, 33, in 4:59.

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Triple Crown – While mentioned in this column as the top area female finisher in the Pikes Peak Ascent, Puebloan Sharon Vigil was inadvertently omitted from the list of area runners who placed in the top three in their age divisions of the Triple Crown of Running. Vigil took third in the 45-49 age group, just 2:12 behind the bracket winner.

Hot to Trot – After a one-year absence, this 5K race returns on Sept. 25 with a new course that will start and finish in front of the Gold Dust Saloon. Perks include running a course that takes in the Riverwalk and River Trail system, a free breakfast afterward at the Gold Dust and a discount coupon book good at Historic District restaurants during the Chile & Frijoles Festival. To boot, besides awards for the top runners, all walkers will be given a special finisher’s medal.

Leadville runs – Five area runners were among the 213 who finished the grueling Leadville 100-Mile Trail Run last month. In order of finish were Art Long of Florence (23 hours, 47 minutes and 50 seconds), Marc Staley of Pueblo (23:58:05), Tammy Stone of Florence (24:35:09), Richie Redland of Salida (27:24:34) and Susan Gebhart of Penrose (28:04:44). In the Leadville Trail Marathon the previous month, Staley had a 4:44 time and Cheri Bashor of Pueblo West a 5:57. Former Puebloan Paul Koch of Colorado Springs was the overall winner with a time of 3:45:50.

Upcoming Pueblo-Area Races

  • Sept. 25 – Hot to Trot, 5K run and 2M walk, 7:45 a.m., Gold Dust Saloon, 217 S. Union Ave. (251-3189).
  • Oct. 1 – River Run Classic, 5K walk and 5K/10K run, 7 a.m. walk, 9 a.m. runs, John Griffin Regional Park in Canon City (275-1578).
  • Oct. 8 – DECA Dash, 5K run/walk, 8 a.m., Pueblo West High School, 661 Capistrano Ave. ([email protected]).
  • Oct. 22 – Harvest Poker Prediction Run, 5M, 5 p.m., Lovell Park in Pueblo West (564-9303).
  • Oct. 29 – SRDA Turkey Trot 5K run and 1.5M walk, 8 a.m., HARP Pavilion (545-8900).

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