Are you signed up to run a race this year? 🏃 Colorado's road races are back for the first time since the pandemic.
Berta Cruz has been waiting three years to run her 20th consecutive Cherry Creek Sneak, a streak that began in 2000 when she ran the annual 5-mile spring race to honor her fiancé after he died the previous April.
The Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day has seen week-over-week increases in registration over the past month, according to race director Cliff Bosley, who is expecting 35,000 or more to register by race day. That race had 41,197 finishers in 2019, which kept it in its customary position as America’s fourth-largest road race.
If the Colfax Marathon races attract 15,000 next month, that would represent a 25% drop over 2019. But, race officials point out, they postponed the 2021 event from May to October instead of canceling it altogether, so now they’re putting on the same event twice in seven months. They anticipate the total number for both races will be 29,000 to 30,000.
“In the old days, somebody would hand you your cup,” Dowdy said. “With COVID, the tables were spread farther apart, the cups were pre-filled, and you reached for your own cup. That way the volunteer didn’t have to be face-to-face with the runner. We’re going to stay that way. The runners liked it, and it made it easier for the volunteers.