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Copper to host elite-level half-marathon
Sunday’s U.S. Race Series event to replace Copperman Marathon
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The recpath in and around Copper Mountain will be busy on Sunday, as event organizers are expecting some 300 runners for the inaugrual U.S. Race Series Half-Marathon at the resort.
Summit Daily file photo/Kristin Anderson
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By ADAM BOFFEY
summit daily news
July 12, 2007
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COPPER MOUNTAIN — Copper Mountain tried its hand at hosting a marathon last summer and only 15 people showed up to race.
Following the search for a more marketable — and shorter-distance — event, resort decision makers recently forged a three-year deal with the U.S. Race Series for a half-marathon.
“We thought the half-marathon would be more appealing to a broader audience,” said Copper events manager Maja Russer of the inaugural event, set for Sunday at 9 a.m. “It’s more attainable — especially when you’re running at 9,600 feet.”
Copper’s half-marathon, which will accompany a 12K run, 5K walk as well as kids’ events, already has 250 entrants, according to Russer.
“We’ve had 40 people register each of the last few days,” she said Thursday. “With walk ups, we’re figuring on 300.”
Sunday’s race, which Russer expects to include more than 20 percent out-of-state racers, takes the place of a similar event once held on the Front Range.
“We used to do Denver, but we’ve shifted our focus,” said U.S. Race Series founder Ryan Dawkins.
“We wanted more of a mountain resort, high-end feel.”
The race at Copper follows a series stop in Sun Valley, Idaho, on May 27 and precludes another in San Francisco (Nov. 4).
San Francisco hosted U.S. Race Series’ first event in 2002.
Dawkins, who set Sunday’s course with his business and marketing director Ludo Thomasson, said his mission was to keep the contest within the confines of the resort as much as possible.
The race begins in Copper’s Burning Stones Plaza then heads east, winding through a neighborhood near the golf course then over to the Alpine chairlift area.
After circling back by Copper’s center village, racers will leave the resort for a roughly three-mile jaunt up to a turnaround on the Vail Pass bike path.
Finally, competitors will return to Burning Stones for the finish.
“We wanted to keep it a true Copper event and not go down to Frisco or Silverthorne,” Dawkins said.
“It’s probably the highest half-marathon in the U.S. that’s a 100 percent road race.”
The race course, which begins at 9,600 feet elevation and reaches a high of 10,500 feet, is certified by USATF (U.S.A. Track and Field), meaning, “If there’s any records or anyone comes close to a record, that’s newsworthy and it will be recorded in the USATF database,” Dawkins said.
Each runner will be assigned a small chip to wear on his or her ankle, a system designed to ensure the most accurate results possible.
Chip timing starts a runner’s time when they reach the starting line instead of when the gun goes off.
Registration for the event is available today at http://ushalf.com/copper; Saturday at the resort from 3-6 p.m.; and Sunday from 7-8:30 a.m.
The half-marathon, which costs $50 online, will feature awards for the top three males and females in the following age divisions: 19-under, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70+.
Adam Boffey can be contacted at (970) 668-4634, or at aboffey@summitdaily.com.
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