The 23rd annual Steamboat marathon occurred June 6th on a gorgeous morning.
The Steamboat Marathon fills up fast, with space limited to 500 runners. The marathon course is a downhill, point to point race that on paper might even appear a bit easy. But as finishers arrived in downtown Steamboat Springs in front of the courthouse, 26.2 miles later, “easy” probably wasn’t a word most would use to describe the course. Starting at 8,128 feet in historic Hahns Peak Village, the marathon declines into the Elk River Valley along a paved road that eventually comes to a more breathable 6,728 feet. Unfortunately, most of the decline comes before the runners reach half way, and with the hot sun and clear skies, temperatures reached the mid 80s.
Two hours and forty eight minutes after the start of the marathon, 41 year old Steve Krebs of Lakewood broke the tape to capture his first Steamboat Marathon title. This year marked Krebs’ fifth Steamboat Marathon. Boulder’s Alan Rozendaal was second in 2:51, and Mesa’s Erik Packard was third in 2:58.
In the women’s race, excitement developed near mile 20 where Denver’s Lindsey Krause, boldly moved from 4th place into the lead. From there, it was all Krause. She held her lead for another 6.2 miles, finishing in 3:16. Silver went to Amanda Nilsen two minutes later in 3:18. Hailey Garside captured third place honors in 3:24.
In addition to the marathon, a half marathon and 10k were also run. Unlike the marathon, the half marathon has space for 900 runners. Starting at mile 13.1 of the marathon, the half marathon followed the same course, and treated runners to the more “gentle” sections of the marathon course. Denver’s Andy Bupp won the half in one hour and thirteen minutes, followed by Brad Pace of Fort Collins in 1:19. Steamboat Springs’ very own Rob Shoaf was third in 1:22.
In the womens race, Jen Keidel of Buena Vista was first into town and won in a time of one hour and thirty one minutes. Jen was followed by Shannon Meredith, also in 1:31, and Kristi Jordan in 1:33.