Fit to be Tied Column
May 18, 2009From the Pueblo Chieftain
by Gary Franchi
Run With the Bulls will have huge inaugural field
For an inaugural race, this Sunday’s Run With the Bulls will be
an epic ride.
Part of the Wild Wild West Fest sponsored by the Professional Bull Riders,
the 5-kilometer running race and 2-mile walk will probably have in the
ballpark of 150 entries. The race is piggybacking on the success of the
fall Hot to Trot race, using basically the same course that will include
portions of the Riverwalk and river trail system but starting and finishing
near the PBR building on Union Avenue.
Race time is 8:45 a.m. for the walkers and 9 o’clock for runners,
and there will be a Kiddie K race for toddlers at 8:30 a.m. The race will
be produced by the Southern Colorado Runners (SCR).
Race Director Ruth McDonald is trying to make this a race to remember.
The awards for all age division winners will be unique bull statues. Race
T-shirts will have an appropriate snorting bull on the front, the WWWF
logo on the back and a PBR logo on the sleeve
Race-day registration will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Sunday, awards
will be given out on the Riverwalk, and after the race there will be a
barbecue lunch at the Gold Dust Saloon for participants beginning at 11
a.m.
You can pre-register at the Gold Dust through Saturday. More information
is available on the SCR website.
Running
Pueblo West couple Justin and Denise Ricks are organizing a weekly group
run under the name Steel City Striders for anyone interested. For now,
the Striders will meet at 7 a.m. on Saturdays at the Pueblo City Park
swimming pool parking lot. Track or hill workouts will be considered in
the future.
Justin is no ordinary runner. When he races, he either wins overall honors
or places near the top of the list. For instance, he recently won the
local Cinco de Mayo 10K in 33:18, and he recently set a new course record
while winning the Greenland 25K Trail Run in 1:36:27. He also holds the
Greenland 50K course record with a time of 3:23:11 set in 2008.
A Colorado Springs native and Wasson High graduate, he has lived here
for four years and is a district manager for Rent-a-Center. Sponsored
by Pearl Izumi, he considers himself an ultra-distance runner, and he
has trained in the Springs area with the Incline Club that includes elite
high-altitude runners. Ricks has been helping coach Pueblo West High School
runners, and several of them are expected to participate in the Saturday
group runs.
The focus of the Striders’ workouts, however, would be to enable
different ability levels to participate. To learn more, go to Rick’s
blog site at http://steelcitystriders.blogspot.com/.
Marathon
What a fantastic East Coast trip it was last month for Canon City runners
who carried the banner for southern Colorado in the Boston Marathon with
exceptional finish times! Leading the way was 35-year-old District Attorney
Thom LeDoux in 3 hours and 23 minutes. Others were Brian VanIwarden, 29,
in 3:25; Marcy Epperson, 36, in 3:37; and Julie and Warren Marshall, both
60, in 4:11 and 4:49, respectively. VanIwarden’s brother Jeff, 28,
who now lives in Aurora, was part of the group and ran a 3:29. Two other
Canon City High School graduates joined them and led the contingent –
Jon Moore, 28, now living in Virginia, ran a 2:52 while Chris McIntyre,
29, of Colorado Springs finished in 3:09.
Carol Kinzy continues to amaze. The 61-year-old Pueblo distance runner
was the overall female grand masters champion in the Colorado Marathon
in Fort Collins last month with a superb 3:44 time, meaning that she was
faster than all females 50 years of age and older.
Ultra running
Justin Ricks wasn’t the only area runner in the Greenland Trail Races as four others were among 93 finishers in the 50K division. Others to complete the 31 miles were John Castanha, 49, of Rye in 5:39 and three Pueblo West women – Kim Arline, 42, and Kim Dodds, 43, finished together in 6:06 and Marti Marshall, 46, recorded a 6:46 time. In early April, all three ladies and good friend Terri Tibbs, also of Pueblo West, ran the Moab Marathon in post- blizzard conditions.
Multisport
Charlie Gray, 55, is definitely making his mark in running and multi-sport circles since moving to Pueblo from Kansas a year ago because of a job relocation. His latest accomplishment was winning his age division and finishing 41st overall in the Barkin’ Dog Duathlon at Cherry Creek State Park on May 9. His time of 1:26:10 was forged on splits of 17:46 for the first 5K run, 48:34 for the 30K bike and 18:32 for the second 5K run.
Cycling
Downtown Westcliffe will host the Bike With Pike Adventure century ride
to Colorado City and back on Sept. 12, and those wanting to chew off a
little bit less of a bite can choose the 69-mile distance or the abbreviated
8-mile family ride. It’s nice to have a ride in this region since
the Red Canyon Century Ride is not being held this year in Canon City.
http://www.bikewithpike.org/
Gov. Bill Ritter has signed into law a bill that requires drivers to give
cyclists at least three feet of space when passing them. In addition,
persons throwing objects at a cyclist now face fines and a possible jail
sentence of three to 12 months.
Race Calendar
• Sunday – Run With the Bulls, 5K run, 2M fun walk, Kiddie
K (2 blocks), 8:45 a.m. kids run, 9 a.m. run/walk, Union Avenue at Riverwalk
(251-3189).
• June 6 – Run for Rio, 5K run/walk, 8 a.m., Rye High School
(jeffaco@earthlink.net).
• June 13 – Spirit Fest, 5K run/walk, 8 a.m., Riverwalk (jesse.sena@dss.co.pueblo.co.us).
• June 20 – Diabetes Prevent-a-thon 5K, 8 a.m., PCC campus
(pueblotriathlon@msn.com).
• June 27 – Women’s Distance Festival, 5K run/walk,
7 a.m., Pueblo City Park (moreskovich@comcast.net).
• July 4 – Liberty Point 5K run/walk, 7:30 a.m., Purcell Blvd.
& Joe Martinez Blvd. In Pueblo West (terbear31@msn.com).
• Aug. 1 – Moonlight Madness (predicted time run), 5M, 7:30
p.m., 5395 Verde Rd. (dtiffany@ghvalley.net).
Send comments and fitness information to Gary Franchi via e-mail at garyf@bresnan.net.
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