Colorado Runner

Join the Incline Friends and ultra runners Anton Krupicka, Geoff Roes and Anita Ortiz for a premier showing of the new documentary “Unbreakable: The Western States 100,” at 7 p.m., Dec. 7 at Stargazers Theatre in Colorado Springs. Doors open at 6 p.m. The film by Journeyfilm’s JB Benna follows the footsteps of four extraordinary athletes, including Krupicka and Roes of Boulder, as they prepare for the 2010 race and the daunting challenge of running 100 miles across the Sierra Nevada, some of the most rugged country in the western United States. On race day you’ll join the runners shoulder-to-shoulder [...]

Bernie Boettcher (Silt, CO) and Amelia Ortiz (Eagle, CO) ran to victory at the Beaver Creek Summer Solstice 10K Trail Race on June 18. Boettcher’s winning time of 47:07 was only four seconds faster than second place John Klish of Eagle. Ortiz outpaced her mother, Anita, by nearly a minute, crossing the 52:26. Anita finished second in 53:10. Sergio Nevarez of Cabondale (31:42) and Linda Andros-Clay of Edwards (32:05) won the 5K.

The Pedal Power Bike Shop and Tennessee Pass Nordic Center hosted this year’s Colorado Snowshoeing State Championships. Participants experienced mild weather on this high elevation course. The 5k race was won by Tommy Manning, 34, of Colorado Springs (49:17) and Terry Stimac, 45, of Vail (59:22). The championship 10k was won by Travis Macy, 27, of Evergreen (1:04:28) and Anita Ortiz, 46 , of Eagle (1:17:22). For complete results, click here.

For the first time in the history of US mountain running the team took home two team medals as the women’s team repeated with a Gold medal performance and the women’s junior team scored silver. In addition Laura Haefeli took home the first ever women’s individual medal with her third place finish. The day of racing over the 4KM course with 1000 feet of climb and descent commenced with the junior women. The field of 53 of the best mountain runners under the age of 20 sprinted out of the sport stadium in the mountain town of Ovronnaz. The Teva [...]

Colorado Springs, CO – Seventeen athletes representing eight states will race on the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team at the 23rd World Mountain Running Trophy in Saillon, Ovronnaz, Switzerland, on Saturday, September 15, 2007. The women’s team includes gold medalists from the 2006 team Rachael Cuellar, 25, Albuquerque, NM, and Chris Lundy, 36, Sausalito, CA and 2004 bronze medalists Laura Haefeli, 39, Del Norte, CO, and Anita Ortiz, 43, Eagle, CO. The top three finishers score for the team. The men’s team will be led by eight-time team member Paul Low, 33, Belchertown, MA. Joining Low will be six-time team [...]

After a two-year hiatus, the Teva Vail HalfMarathon was back on the Back Bowls of Vail Mountain for part of the route and the course change was a welcome addition for runners. “We were fortunate this year to get approval to use the Back Bowls from the USDA Forest Service and Vail Resorts. Combine these portions of the course with the popular trails on the front side of Vail Mountain and we had a spectacular course in terms of variety. Being at the height of the wildflower season guaranteed the runners fantastic scenery throughout the race,” said race director Joel [...]

La Sportiva, maker of award- winning Mountain Running shoes, is proud to be the Official Footwear Sponsor for the 2007 Barr Trail Mountain Race on Pikes Peak near Manitou Springs, Colo. The Barr Trail Mountain Race is a popular, but challenging, run 6 miles up and 6 miles down the lower half of the Barr Trail, the outstanding trail that goes to the top of Pikes Peak. The 8th annual Barr Trail Mountain Race filled in 7 days with entries limited to 400 to maintain a high quality experience for everyone. The support and organization is exceptional and top runners [...]

This year’s Teva Vail HillClimb was certainly a family-friendly event. The 303 finishers included more than 20 pairs of spouses, three pairs of brothers, four families, and several mother-daughter, mother-son, and father-son pairings. If there was a prize awarded to the fastest couple it would have gone to second-place male finisher Bernie Boettcher and his partner of ten years Jeanne Blatter (119th overall) who turned in a combined time of 2:12:07 to eclipse the second- place pair of Russ Bollig (13th overall) and Kim Wright (130th overall) whose time totaled 2:21:29. Rounding out the top three pairings was local Vail [...]

La Sportiva Mountain Running Team announces new team members Anita Ortiz and Anton Krupicka for the 2007 season. Anita Ortiz says she runs “to smell the trees and see the sunrise.” But don’t be fooled, Ortiz is a first rate competitor with a fierce will to win. Always a runner, Ortiz is a Colorado mother of four who found her way back to racing after the birth of her twin sons and has been winning races ever since. Ortiz’s resume is heavy with gold. Career highlights boast being the United States Mountain Running Champion for 2002, 2003 and 2004, Mountain [...]

On Sunday, July 3, the 27th annual Teva Vail Daily Vail Hill Climb was held on a 7.6 mile mostly dirt and gravel uphill route starting in the Vail Village and reaching the summit of Vail Mountain at Eagle’s Nest. With an elevation gain of 2,200 feet starting at just over 8,000 feet it would seem that only the most conditioned athletes would give the course a try. Not so. Of the 388 finishers in the race, there were many first-time trail racers including a couple who drove from California with their five children to enjoy Vail for the fourth [...]