Fit to be Tied Column
Aug 20, 2007
From the Pueblo Chieftain
by Gary Franchi

It’s “put up” time for area runners. The long-distance training miles should be in the rear view mirror by now for most of them, and all that awaits them are the real-life tests.

Some, like Rich Hadley of Florence, have already started getting in their licks. Hadley led local finishers with a 1:27:06 time last Saturday in the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half-Marathon, which was good for third place in his age division.

This weekend the adventures get a lot more demanding.

The annual assault of Pikes Peak will take place with the Ascent on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday. Dozens of area runners are entered, and some of them will be completing the third leg of the Triple Crown of Running in either the Ascent of the first half of the marathon. Both races start at 7 a.m. in Manitou Springs.

The chore will be more difficult for two area runners who are among the 583 runners entered in the Leadville Trail 100-Mile Run. When the race starts at 4 a.m. Saturday, Tammy Stone, 45, of Florence and Marv Bradley, 68, of Canon City will set off on the odyssey. Both are veteran ultra-distance runners.

Not far off is the annual American Discovery Trail Marathon that starts in America The Beautiful Park in downtown Colorado Springs on Labor Day, Sept. 3. The marathon begins at 6:30 a.m., and there also are a half-marathon at 7:30 and a 5K run/walk at 7:45. The marathon has been rated one of America's top 20 trail marathons by Trail Runner magazine.

Good luck to you all!

State Games Redoux

While the results of the top local finishers in the 30 different events held during the recent Rocky Mountain State Games were noted in the Sports section last Sunday, there were several other performances by endurance athletes in the Games that are worth mentioning.

In the 5-kilometer run held at the Air Force Academy, 15-year-old Michael Cernoia of Pueblo West may have finished only fifth in his age division but he led all local competitors and was 13th overall in the 188-runner field with a time of 19:02, a speedy 6:09 per-mile pace. Not far behind him in 18th place overall was Aaron Levinson, 18, of Pueblo who sped to a 20:06. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Jennifer Cernoia of Pueblo West took third in her age group with her time of 28:28.

In the triathlon that included a swim in Memorial Park’s Prospect Lake that was by consensus much longer than its supposed 750 meters along with a 13-mile bike leg and a 5K run, Pueblo had 10 participants and there were another three others from Canon City and one from Colorado City in the field.

The local pacesetter was Chris Gredig, a 48-year-old Puebloan who had what may have been his best triathlon ever with a 1:23:01 time that was good for 37th overall in the field and second in his age bracket. Mark Riem, 40, of Canon City was a fraction of a second behind him in 1:23:10. George Dallam, a Colorado Springs resident and a professor at CSU-Pueblo, was 10th overall and first in the 45-49 age division with a 1:12:33 forged on swim-bike-run splits of 12:18, 36:17 and 21:48 plus the two transitions. Dave Diaz, 59, took third in his age group with a 1:26:48.

On the women’s side, Robin Krueger, 39, of Pueblo may not have placed in her age division but she was 15th overall among females with a time of 1:28:02. Pueblo’s Carrie Slover (1:43:33) was second in the 55-59 division and Peggy Oreskovich (1:31:53) and Stacey Diaz (1:36:00) were second and third, respectively, in the 45-49 bracket. This was just the second triathlon ever for Oreskovich, and she chopped a remarkable 20+ minutes off the time she recorded on the same course in the Prospect Lake Triathlon in June.

Running

Online registration for next month's Hot to Trot race will be available soon through active.com and accessible from the “Calendar” link of the Southern Colorado Runners' website. The race includes at 1K kids run at 7:30 a.m., a 2K fun walk at 7:45 and a 5K run at 8 o’clock, and all will start and finish at the Gold Dust Saloon in the Union Avenue Historic District. The Hot to Trot is being held in conjunction with the annual Chile and Frijoles Festival, and the entry fee includes a post-race breakfast at the Gold Dust during the awards ceremony.

Efforts to revise the once-popular Dam Run won’t come to fruition this year, but Lynn Brown, Director of Recreational Therapy for the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, notes that the planning committee is committed to bringing the race back in 2008. The Dam Run was a popular point-to-point fall race in the 1980s and ‘90s that consisted of a 7.5-mile course that started at the Pueblo Dam and a shorter course that began at the Nature Center, both finishing on the CMHIP grounds.

This year’s Oct. 14 Denver Marathon, which also includes a half-marathon and a marathon relay, will be limited to 10,000 runners to avoid overcrowding on the course. Race organizers installed a cap because the number of entries is already soaring compared to last year’s 5,000+ total finishers that included 1,189 marathoners and 1,861 half-marathoners in the field that also had relay teams and Kids Mile participants.

Multi-sport

Michael Orendorff, 56, of Pueblo won his age division of both the Boulder Peak Triathlon and the three-race EAS 5430 Boulder Triathlon Series. Orendorff had to settle for second in his age bracket in the final race of the series – the Long Course Half-Ironman which he completed in 4 hours and 54 minutes. The series also included a sprint triathlon and the Boulder Peak that was Olympic distance with a longer bike leg. Also completing the Half-Ironman from this area were Gwendolyn and Grant Drummond of Pueblo West in 5:56 and 6:22, respectively, and Rob Lins of Florence in 7:04.

Race Calendar

• Aug. 18 – Pikes Peak Ascent, 13.32M, 7 a.m., Manitou Springs (719-473-2625).
• Aug. 19 – Pikes Peak Marathon, 26.2M, 7 a.m., Manitou Springs (719-473-2625).
• Aug. 25 – Tunnel Drive Run (Prediction Series race), 5M, 7:30 a.m., Canon City (719) 784-6514).
• Sept. 9 – South Shore Adventure (Prediction Series race), 8.3M, Pedros Point Trailhead south of Lake Pueblo (543-2052).
• Sept. 23 – Hot to Trot, 5K run, 2M walk and Kiddie K, 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m., Union Avenue (251-3189).
• Oct. 6 – Autumn River Walk & Run Classic, 5K, 7-9 a.m. walk, 9 a.m. run, Centennial Park in Canon City (275-1578).
• Oct. 14 – Survival Run, 5K run/walk and non-competitive bike ride, 8 am., Airport Industrial Park 947-3682.

Websites:

• Grand Prix of Running: www.pikespeakmarathon.org
• Southern Colorado Runners: www.socorunners.org
• American Discovery Trail Marathon: www.adtmarathon.com/
• Denver Marathon: www.denvermarathon.com/

Send comments and fitness information to Gary Franchi via e-mail at garyf@bresnan.net.

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