Time to prepare for another Spring Runoff
It’s time to start getting in shape for the biggest Pueblo road race of the year.
The Pueblo Chieftain-sponsored Spring Runoff is just around the corner, with the 33rd annual rendition set for Sunday, March 6. The venue remains the same – Dutch Clark Stadium. But there will be a couple of minor changes this year.
The Runoff will again include 5-kilometer, 10K and 10-mile races along with a 1-mile Funner to be a Runner non-competitive division and a 2-mile walk. The 10K and 10-mile courses will skip going through City Park this year, with both dropping down Reservoir Road and spending a bit more of the course on the river trail before finishing inside the stadium. And for congestion relief purposes, the 2M walk and 5K run divisions will start at 9 a.m. while the 10K and 10M will take off 15 minutes later. The popular Funner 1-miler and the Toddler Race for those 6 years old and under will begin around 10:45 a.m.
The Southern Colorado Runners’ veteran finish line crew and results compilers will have their hands full again since the Runoff has grown into a behemoth. There were a whopping 1,195 finishers plus the toddlers in 2010. That eclipsed the previous year’s record 888 (plus toddlers).
This year’s entrants in the 2-mile walk and 5K, 10K and 10M races will receive a short-sleeved technical racing shirt. The entry fees for those who register by the Feb. 18 early registration date are $20 for adults, $18 for SCR members and $12 for those 18 and under. The Funner to be a Runner and Toddler Race are free but without a shirt.
Much more race information, including online entry forms, is available at www.socorunners.org.
Running
Former Puebloans Steve Cathcart and Stella Heffron won the men’s and women’s masters championships in the 2010 Colorado Runner Racing Series, which consisted of 15 races of varying distances from 5K to half-marathon held throughout the state. Heffron, 43, who ran for the University of Southern Colorado and now lives in Parker, also won the women’s masters title last year. Cathcart, 45, ran for Pueblo County High School and Western State College and now lives in Fort Collins, where he owns a Runner’s Roost store.
Registration for the Triple Crown of Running in Manitou Springs will begin March 16. The series dates are the Garden of the Gods 10-Mile Run on June 12, the Summer Roundup Trail Run on July 10 and either the Pikes Peak Ascent or Marathon on Aug. 20 and 21, respectively. One notable change is that entrants can use only races run in the last three years (instead of five) for qualifying. This includes those who want to do both races.
Marathons
Robin Krueger, 42, formerly of Pueblo West and now living in Colorado Springs, qualified for the Boston Marathon by recording a 3:34 time in the Las Vegas Marathon last month, easily under the 3:50 “Q” time needed for women in the 40-44 age division.
Pueblo West standout Justin Ricks, 30, just missed in his first attempt to qualify for the U.S. Men’s Olympic Trials marathon by finishing the California International Marathon in 2:22:43 on Dec. 5. Ricks must run 2:19 or better to qualify, and he still has a year to do so since the Trials will be held in January 2012 at the Houston Marathon. The ultimate goal would be gaining a berth in the 2012 Olympics in London.
Triathlon
Pueblo’s Y-Tri Youth Triathlon will take place April 16 at Colorado State University-Pueblo beginning at 8 a.m. There are three age divisions – 5-8, 9-11 and 12-15 – with distances varying by age. Kids in the 5-8 division will swim 2 lengths of the pool (50 yards), bike 2.3 miles and run one-half mile. Kids in the 9-11 division will swim 150 yards, bike 4.6 miles and run one mile. The older youths in the 12-15 division will swim 300 yards, bike seven miles and run two miles. To give kids a feel for the swim and the venue, there will be practice swims at the CSU-P pool on March 11 and March 18. Timers will provide splits for the swim, the bike and the two transitions, and the overall time. The field is limited to 150 participants who will receive a finisher’s medal, T-shirt and race bag. Registration is being conducted online at www.puebloymca.org. This is the YMCA’s first foray into multi-sport events since discontinuing both the Y-Bi Duathlon and Ordinary Mortals Triathlon, both for adults, a few years ago.
Bicycling
On April 23, Pueblo will be the site of the inaugural Voodoo Fire Marathon mountain bike race on the trails at Lake Pueblo. Part of the five-race Rocky Mountain Endurance Series, the event has eight different age divisions from 15 through 60+ years old. There are cash prizes for top overall men and women and age division awards.
Expect criterium racing to return to Pueblo in June, and details will be provided here as the event gets closer.
Race Calendar
• Feb. 12 – Valentine’s Twosome, 1.6 each partner, 9 a.m., Pueblo City Park, 947-3682.
• March 6 – Spring Runoff, 1M, 2M walk, 5K, 10K & 10M, 9:00 a.m., Dutch Clark Stadium, 547-2777.
• March 20 – Mad Max Trail Run (Prediction Series run), 4.6M & 10.3M, 8 a.m., Pueblo Nature Center, [email protected].
• April 2 – John Neumann Panther Run, 5K run & 1.6M walk, 8 a.m., Pueblo City Park, [email protected].
• April 9 – Ramsgate 8, 8K, 8 a.m., 8 Ramsgate in Belmont, 564-9633.
• April 16 – Y-Tri Youth Triathlon, different division distances, 8 am, CSU-Pueblo, puebloymca.org.
• April 23 – Voodoo Fire Marathon mountain bike races, 9 a.m., Lake Pueblo, warriorscycling.com.
Send comments and fitness information to Gary Franchi via e-mail at [email protected].