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Classic 10K runners provide $5,000-plus to Circle of Hope fund
Cancer fund enjoys boost from collaboration: The collaboration between the Classic 10K and the Circle of Hope fund-raising run looks to have paid off.
Memorial Health System Foundation executive director Cary Blanchette estimated that the race brought in $5,000-6,000 in donations. The race drew about 780 entrants, a big increase over the 200 that ran last year’s fund-raiser, and allowed the fund-raiser to avoid the overhead
costs of putting on a race of their own.
“We would love to be surprised with a bit more,” he said as the race finishers milled around the fund’s table.
The fund sends out $90,000-$100,000 each year ($140,000 in 2011) to cancer patients around southern Colorado who need help with rent, food and utilities, he added. One hundred percent of the donations made to Circle of Hope go to patients, he said.
“The need for emergency assistance has tripled over the last two years,’’ Blanchette has said. “There are people with cancer who currently need financial help, but our fund is nearly depleted."
Anyone interested in more information or wishing to donate should check out memorialhealthsystem.com/foundation or call 719.365-GIVE.
Springs couple takes break from mountain running with Classic 10K: Women’s Masters Division winner Eva Hagen, 44, and her husband, Michael Hagen, 50, (above right) love training and running races together, but the Colorado Springs couple said it had been a long time since they’d run a 10K as flat and as fast as this year’s Classic 10K.
“It was my first 10K in 5 - 8 years,” said Michael. “I’ve been doing triathlons and XTERRAs and trail racing, so it was a little moment of truth to see how much I’ve slowed down over the years.”
Michael said Eva signed him up for the Classic 10K without telling him, but he didn’t mind. He’s been doing a lot more running after breaking his wrist mountain biking five weeks ago.
“Yeah, it was a high-speed dismount,” Michael said. “It broke my radius at my wrist. My 5-year-old daughter wanted me to have a pink cast so I did it. I figure I’ll catch a little grief for it, but that’s all right.”
Michael, who finished the Classic 10K in 35:53, said he was glad Eva signed him up for the Classic 10K because, “I like to race, but I don’t like to train. Racing is my speed work.”
“My husband and I do a lot of mountain running and trail running,” said Eva, who finished in 38:49. “We just did the Vail Hill Climb last week. This is actually my first flat run in a long time. And we do a lot of ski mountaineering in the winter time for cross training … I grew up in Austria and we moved to Colorado Springs 10 years ago. Colorado is a great state for running and skiing. It’s one of the best in the U.S.”
Call him Mr. Clydesdale: Dane Huish, 33, Highlands Ranch, won the Clydesdale Award given to the fastest male runner weighing 190 pounds or more at Saturdays' Classic 10K in Monument Valley Park. Huish said he joined the Highlands Ranch Running Club after moving to Colorado from Seattle in 2009 in order to keep fit.
“I had lost about 60 pounds at that point and wanted to keep it off,” Huish said.
Not only has Huish kept off the weight, he’s becoming a very competitive runner, finishing Saturday’s Classic 10K in 42:27.
“I’ve trained from 5Ks to half marathons and have progressively just whittled my time down,” he said. "This race, I averaged 6:50 per mile and my best mile so far is a 5:40."
Huish said his improvement is due to the training and structure he gets from his running club, which has a weekly long run on Saturdays and track workouts on Wednesday evenings.
“It’s really due to the track work,” he said, “especially toward the end of the race. You can feel the speed-work kicking in. I tell myself, ‘I don’t have to sustain it; I just have to make it that last half mile.’ But it can be hard to do without a rigorous plan. Having the track days with the club and a set workout you have to do really helps a lot.”
Monica Ortiz, 38, of Colorado Springs, was the fastest "Athena," finishing in 52:07.
Beveridge household always in grip of Olympic fever: Becky Beveridge, 39, knows what really matters to daughter Hannah, 9, and son Egan, 5: the Classic 10K race swag.
“They care about what they get, not how I did,” the Colorado Springs runner said after finishing the 6.2-mile course at Monument Valley Park on Saturday morning. “They like when I bring home medals; they are always participant medals, not winners, because then they can play Olympics. They have quite the little collection of medals.”
Classic training for more challenging races: Rookie competitor Keith Morgan, 20, of Colorado Springs ran a personal record on the course in 38:12. It is the first step toward becoming ready for the Pikes Peak Ascent, next year.
“My older brother (Kevin) usually races this but could not so I took his place,” he said. “I am glad to have a PR, but I know I am not ready for the ascent. I need to compete in a qualifying race; there’s a real difference.”
Beveridge, also a first-time competitor in the longtime race, used the mostly downhill course as a good change-up in training while she prepares for the 2012 Ascent on Aug. 18. The race is popular because the easier-than-usual terrain allows many runners to go for personal records.
“It is a good way to keep me motivated,” she said. “This race is known for being one where you feel like you’re flying. It’s a good race. Once I get back to my car (at the start), it will be a 12-mile training day.”
Kids Run winner will not sneak up on future teammate: For girls’ runner-up Kathryn Pennington, 16, of Air Academy High School there is little doubt she will see plenty of incoming Kadets freshman Katie Rainsberger, who hopes to run varsity cross country this fall.
“Oh yeah, she’s going to make it,” said Pennington, who placed second in the Classic Kokopelli Kids Run in 6 minutes, 5 seconds. Rainsberger won in 5:25, a time she said is pretty typical for her in the mile.
Ethan Abbs, 11, of Range Creek Elementary School won the boys’ race in 7:40. The event drew 30 entrants.
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