Colorado Runner

There was an intense air of anticipation leading up to Saturday’s 8th Annual Greenland Trail Races.  The combination of top Colorado runners coupled with a weather and heat advisory lead to a palpable feeling of unknowing and excitement that some may say made Saturday’s races even better. Out of all three distances: the 8 Mile, the 25K and the 50K, all but one course record was broken on Saturday.  Peter Maksimow broke the men’s 50K course record in a time of 3:22:09 while Kerrie Bruxvoort broke the women’s 50K course record in 3:51:25.  Daniel Kraft broke the men’s 25K course record in a time [...]

The first race of the 2012 USATF Grand Prix Series commences this Sunday with the 10 Mile USATF Colorado Championship at the 34th Annual Chieftain Spring Runoff in Pueblo, CO.  The elites start line has been announced and promises to be the strongest field of Colorado’s athletes in decades. Open Men Kenny Foster (Colo. Springs) – 2:19 at 2011 California International Marathon. Peter Maksmiow (Manitou Springs) – 2nd at 2011 USATF Colorado 25K championships, 1:09 at 2012 Houston half marathon. Tommy Neal (Colo. Springs) – 1:05 at 2011 Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon. Alex Nichols (Colo. Springs) – 1st at 2011 USATF Colorado [...]

Mild winter weather – sunny with a brisk wind chill – brought out a record number of finishers to the El Paso County Search and Rescue’s 34th Annual Rescue Run yesterday. Winners of the out and back, up and down 5k race were 27 year old Daniel Castaneda (17:15) and masters runner Rochelle Persson (20:19). Persson was also the 2011 winner of the master’s division of the Colorado Runner Racing Series. Peter Maksimow (35:49) and Connilee Walter (43:36) were victorious on the challenging 10k course, which was altered from the regular course  due to a last-minute closure in the park. [...]

Alex Nichols was the men’s winner of yesterday’s Fall Series III edging out his friend and team-mate Peter Maksimow for the second race in a row. Nichols finished the race in 34:18; Maksimow crossed the line in 34:58. Justin Ricks was third in 35:46. In the women’s race, Clare Bar, an Air Force Academy grad now working at Shriever Air Force Base, dominated the women’s race in 33:32. “I thought it would be like a cross-country style race, but it was really rugged; more like Palmer Park”, Bar said (pictured below with her husband who also participated in the race). [...]

The Final Day: There are Beavers in the Creek here! Peter Maksimow Alex and I (Peter) were expecting (read: hoping) to take today’s final stage out fast and compete for a stage victory with the non-cooperation of Alex’s body yesterday. Since we felt pretty rested from day 5 and everyone else had pushed their bodies hard, we had the idea that we would have an edge. As we took the lead and felt smooth in the first half mile I thought “today is our day.” Raring to go, we were right there with Team Flagstaff, Team Solomon and the ailing [...]

Stage 5 of the Transrockies Run was a 23.6 mile run from Red Cliff to Vail over two mountain pass with a total elevation gain of 4,200′. Day 5 Vail, where beer flows like wine: Alex Nichols I (Alex) felt bad today, really bad. After two miles I told Peter that I needed to slow down if I wanted to finish the course. In all of our previous days I had been worried about Max King, Team Flagstaff, and the men from England, but today it was the finish that had me really worried. We slowed to a crawl by [...]

Stage 4 of the Transrockies Run was a 14.1 mile jaunt from Camp Hale to Red Cliff. Day 4 A Little Hope (pass): Alex Nichols The course profile for the day was pretty straight forward: straight up, straight down. After yesterday’s sustained effort to make the podium I (Alex) wasn’t sure what would be in store for Team Colorado Runner. We had run hard and fully established ourselves into 4th place overall, but we weren’t sure if getting into the top 3 would be a reasonable goal. I’m still not sure if it is, but at the least today proved [...]

Stage three of the Transrockies Run was the logest of the six stages, stretching 24 miles from Leadville to Camp Hale. Day 3 – Exit Leadville: Alex Nichols I’ve (Alex) had some experience pacing the Leadville 100. From those experiences I’ve learned that things can change quickly in long races. Even though Trans Rockies is not technically an ultra, I now believe that the same kind of thing can apply here. Yesterday Hope Pass, and the rest of our competitors, bent us over and had our way with us. It didn’t feel good. But today was different. Peter and I [...]

Day Two of the Transrockies Run was basically a half marathon from Vicksburg to Twin Lakes, over the infamous Hope Pass. After this stage, team Colorado Runner/Inov-8 sits in fifth place in the open male category, 21 minutes behind the leaders. Day 2 Hope Pass: Alex Nichols For me (Alex), today’s stage was like meeting up with an old friend. I’ve been up and over Hope Pass around a half dozen times in the last 5 years so the climb itself was nothing new. I knew it would be steep and unforgiving. After catching the absolute last vehicle to the [...]

The Transrockies Run is a six day stage race from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek. Teams of two travel a total of 120 miles through the rugged Colorado Rockies. This year, Colorado Runner has a team entered who will be providing recaps of their experiences along the way. The team consists of two accomplished runners in Peter Maksimow and Alex Nichols who hope to compete for the win in the Open Male category. Below is their report after Day 1. Trans Rockies Day 1 Buena Vista – 8/21/11: Fresh off the Pikes Peak Ascent on Saturday, Alex and I (Peter) [...]

Former USA Mountain Running Team member Rachel Cueller of Albuquerque blasted up Vail Mountain on July 3rd to win the LaSportiva Vail Hill Climb. Cueller’s time of 59:48 was nearly 90 seconds faster than here nearest competitor, fellow mountain running team member Megan Kimmel of Silverton. Jared Scott of Arizona beat Peter maksimow of Manitou Springs by over a minute, running 50:32.

Colorado showed up and represented well at the 51st “Run to the Clouds”, otherwise known as the Mt Washington Road Race in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire, taking a 1-2 win in both the men’s and women’s fields. Rickey Gates (1:01:32) and Tommy Manning (1:01:42) led the men’s race in first and second respectively. Mesa’s Glenn Randall was 4th, master’s runner Simon Gutierrez was 5th, and Manitou Springs’ Peter Maksimow was 6th. Denver’s Kim Dobson  (1:12:11) and Evergreen’s Brandie Erholtz (1:12:44) were the women’s winners. The classic mountain race is known for it’s popular and grueling 7.6 mile road course.

Pete Maksimow continued his current winning streak this weekend, placing first  in the mostly-uphill Run to the Shrine 10k in 39:16. Maksimow recently won the Cheyenne Mountain Trail Race 25k and Greenland Trail 50k. Daryn Parker, pictured with Maksimow in this article’s featured image, finished second in 41:39.  Gerald Romero, last year’s overall winner, finished third in 42:00. The women’s race was won by Connilee Walter (48:10), Letita Dusich was second (52:53), and  Christi Butler third (53:30). In the men’s 5k, 17 year old Josiah Valensuela was victorious finishing the hilly 5k course in 22:13. Drew Stinson was second (22:29); [...]

Two course records were set at the 2011 edition of the Greenland Trail Race – one in the women’s 50k; the other in the women’s 25k. The race was run under beautiful sunny skies on clear trails. Temperatures were 51 and rising at the race’s start. Colorado Springs’ Peter Maksimow took first place for the men’s 50k and came within striking distance of Justin Ricks’ 2008 course record (3:23:11) running 3:25: 12. Thirty year old Melanie Fryar of Englewood took the win for the women and set a new course record running 4:03:33. Mark Mobley came in second for the [...]

The Cheyenne Mountain Trail Race 25k and 50k brought out varied competition in Saturday’s events. In the men’s 25k, Peter Maksimow and Tommy Manning tied for first place in 1:57:33 with Sean O’Day less than 2 minutes behind. The women’s race was easily won by Amanda Ewing in 2:17:04. Melissa Eichers-Bay and Sharon Good took second and third place. Ewing, who has transitioned recently to trail racing, said, “The course was really well marked and the aid station volunteers were supportive. Everything started on time which was nice since it was cold. The [terrain offered] a bit of everything from [...]

From former Olympians to everyday athletes; from sunny skies to wind, slush and hard-packed snow — several striking contrasts defined the third race in the Pikes Peak Road Runner Winter Series on Saturday. In the 5 mile race, Justin Chaston, former steeplechase Olympian, cruised into first place for the men. Ironman Michael Weiss and Mark VanderMeer were second and third. Amanda Ewing, running for the Colorado Running Company, took the women’s title ahead of Mattie Jesmain and Hannah Dimmick. Weiss and Ewing lead the men’s and women’s short series. Augustus Maiyo, stationed at Fort Carson and vying for a spot [...]