The 2010 Blue Sky Marathon and Half Marathon held on Sunday October 3rd were a huge success thanks to many hard working volunteers, generous sponsors, and a wonderful field of runners.

We had 80 runners in the marathon and 105 runners in the half marathon this year. In the marathon race, Chris Grauch from Boulder took an early lead and after the first 9 mile loop, Sam Malmberg was just seconds behind. But Chris was able to continue building his lead throughout the race and finished in 3:26:38 safely in first place with Sam just over 4 minutes behind.

In the women’s marathon Becky Flowers took the lead early in the start with Jennifer Malmberg trailing just a couple steps behind. On the final return trip over the Indian Summer hill, Jennifer made a move into first place and managed to build a 5 minute lead in the last 6 miles to win the race with a new women’s course record of 4:16:47. Second and third place finishers Becky Flowers and Kristy Falcon also broke the original 2008 women’s course record.

Overall Marathon winners, Chris Grauch and Jennifer Malmberg. Photos by Erin Bibeau Photography

In the half marathon, Michael Jackson from Loveland took first place for the men’s race in 1:32:18 and Sarah Hansen from Fort Collins finished first for the women in 1:42:10. No records were broken in the half marathon race but Sarah’s time was just 26 seconds behind the original 2008 women’s record.

Overall Half Marathon winners, Michael Jackson and Sarah Hansen. Photos by Erin Bibeau Photography

Some of the more remarkable running performances of the day were further back in the pack. Danielle Heath became our youngest female half marathon finisher at age 17. Mary Gilbert tied the record for our oldest female half marathon finisher at age 61. Kathy Kirsling became our oldest female marathon finisher completing her first marathon at age 61. It’s never too late to start! Bill Moyle’s 2008 record for our oldest male finisher still stands at age 69. This year at age 71, Bill completed the marathon but arrived at the finish line after the timing crew had already shut off the clock.

Jackson Chamberlain, age 12, was another late arrival at the finish line. Jackson has already finished the half marathon two years in a row and had set out to become our youngest marathon finisher this year. Unfortunately he didn’t make the time cut off at the Indian Summer South aid station and was out of the race by mile 15.5. But instead of riding out with the aid station volunteers or taking the short cut on the half marathon route back to the start, Jackson retraced his steps along the marathon course back up and over the Indian Summer hill to complete over 21 miles of the course – the longest he’s ever run. Chris Michael became our youngest male marathon finisher this year at age 20 so Jackson has a few years left to

Volunteers greeted Bill Moyle with a line in the dirt where the finish tent used to be.

At the end of the day it seemed like everyone had a great time and we were able to raise a lot of money for a good cause. Almost all of our race expenses were covered by donations and contributions from our generous local business sponsors. As a result we were able to raise over $7,000 to distribute to the Larimer County Parks and Open Spaces, Larimer County Search and Rescue, Athletes in Tandem, and local youth running programs.

Some runners had more fun than others. Photo by Running Guru