As the summer season gets fully underway, Race Breck’s Summit Trail Running Series is heating up fast. 

Following a trail race at the B&B Trailhead two weeks ago on June 4, competitors loaded into the Blair Witch Trailhead parking lot for the Horseshoe Gulch Grind on Wednesday, June 18.

Trail runners competing in the 8.8-mile long-course race were the first to take off from the trailhead parking lot. At 5:30 p.m. on the dot, athletes quickly bottlenecked onto the narrow and rocky opening section of Horseshoe Gulch Road.

After watching their footing over the first few minutes of the race, trail runners opened up their stride and began climbing up Horseshoe Gulch Road towards the Hay Trail.

Breckenridge’s John Rauen and Dillon’s Paul Timm led the field for the vast majority of the race, cruising around tight corners and flowing down descents with precision. After over an hour of being out on the trails it was Rauen who crossed the finish line in first place overall.

Rauen clocked a time of 1 hour, 5 minutes and 49 seconds to secure his second-consecutive win of the series. Raeun was followed by Timm in second place (1:11:27) and Michael Shambarger in third (1:15:05). Breckenridge’s Mark Martin-Williams took fourth overall in 1:16:49, Michael Emery of Breckenridge took fifth (1:19:42) and Diego Andraca finished in sixth (1:22:08).

Brooke Steinkopf was the first female athlete to cross the finish line, placing seventh overall in a time of 1:22:44. Steinkopf was followed by Breckenridge resident Cate Cavanaugh in eighth (1:24:21) while Englewood’s Audrey Kilness took 10th to round out the women’s podium (1:26:08). 

Several other Summit County locals managed to sneak within the top 20 of the long-course race results. Frisco’s Jonna Maas finished in 12th (1:29:48), Ceara Conroy of Breckenridge took 14th (1:32:09), Steve Barone of Breckenridge finished in 15th (1:35:37), Frisco’s Hannah Leto took 16th (1:36:15), Jenny Shostrand of Frisco took 19th (1:39:04) and Becky Peltier of Frisco took 20th overall (1:39:48). 

Five minutes after the start of the long-course race, short-course athletes charged onto the dry trails. Similar to the long-course race route, athletes began on Horseshoe Gulch Road, but instead of taking Hay Trail, turned left onto Blair Witch Trail. 

From there, competitors raced through the forest before emerging onto the Colorado Trail, which looped them back to Horseshoe Gulch Road and to the finish line.

Nathan Hoffman and Breckenridge’s Danny Butler squared off to be the first across the finish line. Following 4.2-miles of racing and neatly 500 feet of climbing, it was Hoffman who won the race in a time of 32:12.

Butler, 15, followed in second (32:43) before Kayla Broecker, 14, of Frisco took third overall and was crowned the race’s female champion (34:08). Joseph Hoffman took fourth overall (35:12), Emmett Bailey finished in fifth (36:15) and Breckenridge’s Haley Zipperer took sixth overall and was the second female runner to complete the race (37:01).

The final spot on the women’s podium was secured by Natalya Hoffman who took seventh overall in a time of 38:17. Sean Hoffman followed Natalya in eighth (38:27), Aaron Matheson took ninth (39:27) and Melanie Mcauley took 10th (40:26). 

Three more Summit County women crashed into the top 20 of the short-course race results. Breckenridge’s Gloria Greenstein took 11th (40:34), Dillon’s Lucia Templeton took 12th (40:59) and Breckenridge’s Anna Kerr finished in 17th (44:52). Alma’s Candice Lockard took 19th in 45:52. 

The Summit Trail Running Series will now take a brief hiatus for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. In place of a Summit Trail Running Series race, Race Breck will be hosting the Independence Day 10K in Breckenridge on July 4. 

After the patriotic holiday, the series will resume with its penultimate race — Tom’s Baby Turnaround — on July 16. The race will be staged out of the Tom’s Baby Trailhead in Breckenridge and is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. 

To sign up for any Race Breck trail race, visit RaceBreck.com.