We hope for close-to-normal conditions on race day 2021, as related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Current race information reflects a normal year. Details may change as race day approaches, and any changes will be communicated to registered runners well in advance. For reference, here are the 2020 COVID Safety Protocols.
I would like to thank each and everyone of you that was involved in putting this race together and making it such a great experience. From the website information (course description, day of race info, etc…), to the aid stations and all the volunteers inbetween, I honestly was extremely pleased with it all. Well outside of the damn wind those last few miles of the race. I can only imagine that the word will spread pretty quickly on how solid of race this is and that you’ll be selling out very quickly next year.
Wish you all continued success with these races and thanks again!
Jaime
I thought I’d be a LOT faster. My training runs, even my 20-miler, were generally sub-10’s. I think the cold weather really sucked the life out of me.
But it was lots of fun! I loved it!
David
A Big Thank You to the organizers and the volunteers. I have done my share of Marathons and Tris and have never seen such amazing volunteers out on a course.What an amazing experience!
Steve
Great race!! I heard a rumor about changing the marathon so that it is 26.2. I think the course should remain the same, call it a ‘trail marathon’ and maybe have somewhere on the registration that it is closer to 27. Neat distance, plus it is trail running (and I can say I’ve run an ultra)! I just hate when you find a course you like a they change it.
Thanks,
Steve F.
I flew in from Seattle for this race and I had the GREATEST time! The course was absolutely beautiful and the perfect challenge. The volunteers were so friendly and not once did I feel confused about which way to run. This was an awesome event (and my first ever trail run)!
Big thanks to everyone who helped put it all together.
Jennifer Baily
Hi, just wanted to thank everyone that helped make Bluesky marathon a great event. Everyone was very friendly–especially the volunteers at all the aid staions..great cheering, and most helpful. Especially the lone lady near the most remote aid station…she actually sang for me..! Even though I had a bit of trouble with the altitude(Michigan is 800 feet) I still really enjoyed the course. If there had actually been a Blue Sky I’m sure the scenery would have been even more spectacular!
Happy trails,
Jerry
I just wanted to let you know what a fantastic job you and your team did putting on the Blue Sky ’09 races. The course was beautiful, well marked and quite challenging, and the aid station volunteers were awesome! The race organization, including pre-race communication, race day logistics, post-race food/drink and goodies were great, too. As a newcomer to trail running, I appreciate that you made it a top-notch experience and one I will look forward to enjoying again in the future. Thanks again!
Jon
Great race,
well supported and all of the volunteers need a huge THANK YOU!
Max
Thank you guys for another awesome race! Great organization great volunteers, thank you all!
It was SO cool to see all these familiar faces at aid stations. No way we could get lost, the marking was great.
I love my rock too!
See you there next year (will you put a 50 mile race up next year???). Just kidding.
Marie-Hélène Faurie
I would just like to say thank you to all of the organizers of the marathon and all of the volunteers. You were all great! The encouragement was just want was needed and it was greatly appreciated!
I would also like to say thank you to everyone in the group for the support and advice and training given in the months leading up to the race.
So, “Thank You!!!!!!!”
Lark
I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone involved with the race and training! The folks at the aid stations were super motivational. It was great to see so many people cheering and encouraging runners to do their best. For me the party going on at Indian summer north came at just the right time to keep me going.
Thanks to all for helping get me through my first race!
Adam
Just a quick note of thanks for putting on another great race this weekend. It was so nice to see so many familiar faces out on the trails and manning the aid stations, road crossings, check-in and food tables…oh, and the post-race massage from Josh was about as hard a workout as I’ve had all year. Wow!
As others have stated, the aid stations were phenomenal, the volunteers amazing and the trail fantastically marked (although I could have probably run this race blindfolded). And the post-race food was as fantastic (maybe better) than last year.
This event truly is a celebration of the wonderful trail running community we have here in Fort Collins. We’re a lucky bunch.
Nick Clark
Thanks for holding and organizing and succeeding in making a great new race for us! No complaints about anything!
Great views, great trails, great volunteers.
A few random thoughts:
Pink and blue ribbons are great for color blind people like me (and the other 15% of men like me). Don’t even consider using orange/red ones.
Arrows at any “unmanned” start of a loop would have been nice, but were not essential.
I think the parking was fine, although I heard some people say it seemed like a long walk. It was fine, really.
Rock awards are way cool. Hats are way better than t-shirts.
Little tents at the food stations served as wonderful beacons in the distance that we needed to get to.
Bravo on the segregated well-labeled garbage facilities at the finish. I like low impact.
Anyway, once again thanks, and I hope to come back next year.
Johannes Rudolph
I just wanted to thank all of you for running a terrific race today! I ran the Marathon and was very impressed with the execution of the race. The volunteers were awesome, trail well marked and the aid stations were well stocked!!
Great job!! Thanks for all the hard work. It is very much appreciated by all of us that ran the marathon!
Sarah McIntosh
Thanks for putting on a great event today. I ran the marathon and thoroughly enjoyed it. The volunteers were fantastic! They were very supportive and it was great to hear them call you by your name when reaching an aid station. The whole race organization was done very well. Great job!
Thanks for all your (and the committee’s) efforts.
Rob Erskine
Hi Blue Sky Folks,
First off, thanks sooo much for your work to setup today’s marathon. Went off without a hitch as far as I can tell. Awesome course, awesome volunteers. Really good fun.
Thanks again for a great race!!!!!
Marc Johnson
Thanks for putting together a fantastic race. The organizers did an amazing job – the support was wonderful, the food at the end was great, and I was kind of blown away by the unexpectedly plush goody bag. Plus it feels truly great to support a local race with a modest entry fee and to know the money is going to a good cause (the main reason I signed up in the first place!)
Having crushed my anticipated finish time by just over 29 minutes (I finished in 2:00:53), I’m motivated to look for another 1/2 marathon this fall. I’m really looking forward to the 2nd annual Blue Sky event, and maybe next year I’ll do the full marathon 🙂
Steph Owens
Just wanted to say a big thank you for organising a fantastic race on Sunday. Blue Sky Marathon truly lived up to it’s name. That was my first ever trail marathon and was way harder that any road event I have ever run. Provided an incredible variety of terrain and beautiful views from the summits of those climbs. The course was clearly marked, aid stations were ideally placed and staff helpful and enthusiastic – great event. We are all talking about next year already!
Terry Chiplin
Active at Altitude
Residential Center for Physical Activity and Training at Altitude
www.activeataltitude.com
Wow, what an awesome run- the race was super fun- great course, great aid, great solitude on the trail, great volunteers- I do hope that the blue sky marathon continues! it was my first marathon- and it was perfect!
by the way….the hat idea is awesome! much better than another t-shirt- and smartwool is sort of ‘local’, making that brand a great choice 🙂
thanks to you and all of the race committee for an awesome day,
Molly Gutilla
What a well organized fun race! Limiting the race entries also allowed runners to enjoy the course and the spectacular views. Well done!
Thank & B Regards,
Jeanette Heimbach
I just wanted to say thanks to you and the rest of the committee for putting on a great race on Sunday. I’m sore today, but the course was beautiful, the event was VERY well-organized, the volunteers were friendly and helpful, and it was all right outside my back door. thanks so much! Please share with the rest of the race committee. I look forward to running the event again next year!
Chris Linder
Just wanted to drop a note to commend you on an awesome run. I did the marathon and you guys really did put on a great event. I have never had pitchers of fluid at aid, and I thought a great system. Two laps of that and we have a 50 miler next year!!!
Great day,
Thanks
Caroline Walden
CONGRATULATIONS!!! The marathon was awesome, inspiring, wonderful and fun! THANK YOU so much for all your hard work! I think you should all congratulate yourselves on a stunning success!
Can’t wait ’til next year ……I’m running it for sure!!! (Sorry…you’ll have to look elsewhere for volunteers….all of us that volunteered today were jealous of the runners!)
GREAT JOB!
Cat Speights
Just a quick note to say thanks guys, for a wonderful and beautiful race!
You must have put a lot of time and effort in organizing the event, it was perfect.
Congratulations on a GREAT organization, wonderful volunteers, it was a really fun day and the weather!
We are truely lucky to live in this area.
I really like the fact that you were environmentally concerned, the idea of bringing your own bottle and recycling was awesome!
Now, celebrate and rest! You deserve it!
Marie-Helene Faurie
I volunteered for the Blue Sky Marathon and I wanted you to know these individuals worked their butts off to give you a great race. As a race director I know there is alot of blood, sweat and tears that go into putting a race together. There is no greater feeling than receiving positive feedback for the runners. Great job everyone!!
Paul “Crazy Legs” Stofko
crazylegs10k.info
Blue Sky Marathon – New Colorado Race Gets Rave Reviews
Click here to view the Racing Colorado RaceBlog review.
This was a very well-run event! I’d especially like to thank all the volunteers out on the course–I’ve run some races with lonely stretches before but I’ve never encountered such enthusiastic and helpful aid stations!! And the finish area was great as well, as I’m definitely one of those that struggled over the last few (several) miles!
The Smartwool hats were a great idea as well. Looking forward to next year! I assume I’ll be able to retain my #1 bib even though I didn’t quite win…
Kyle Fanning
Hey, for those who weren’t there yesterday, the inaugural Blue Sky Marathon was a fantastic success!! This race was birthed from an idea of several FCTR’ers, grew into a dream, and then a lot of people worked really hard to make it happen. The race committee consisted of the Fantastic Seven: Shana Gilette, Eric Lee, Dan Turk, Fran Levine, Alex May, Dennis Vanderheiden, and Pete Stevenson – all of these guys have done so much work over the past year, and yesterday it showed. There were a ton of FCTR’er volunteers as well. In fact, none of the race organizers ran (kind of sad – I hope next year it can be arranged so that some of them can actually run and enjoy this event). Dan Turk and Bryan Trammell provided amazing communications support with their ham radios. Fran, Don, Laurie, and the entire race committee were all helping with aid stations, and countless others. Steve Cathcart and Runner’s Roost was out providing the timing.
The race itself was awesome – great weather (cloudy and cool at first, but dry, hardly any wind), a beautiful course, enthusiastic and supportive aid statiions, and course marshalls to ensure that runners didn’t get lost. I didn’t hear ANY complaints – at all! In fact, if I had to pick something to complain about, I’d say that the Succeed was too watered down as to be almost tasteless. And that’s my fault since I was the one that mixed it – whoops! I should have tasted it first . . . So that’s something I hope to remedy next year (although I’m told that Succeed doesn’t have much taste anyway). After the race there was a great assortment of refreshments including delicious chili and chocolate soy milk (you don’t get that at every race!). The finishers ‘medals’ were really cool rock coasters, and the awards were rock monuments that had been quarried locally. I know many runners very much appreciated the free massages.
The race was everything you would hope for from a trail marathon. It’s hard to imagine how it can be improved, but I’m betting the organizers will make it even better next year. Everyone should plan to run next year. If you don’t want to run, consider being a volunteer. This is a great event – I can’t say enough good things about it!
Jonathan Vigh
Congratulations again to ttr regular Johannes Rudolph for winning the innagural Blue Sky Marathon in Fort Collins on Sunday. This was a fantastic race – well organized, all on trails with great views (when you could look up). Rolling hillswith some good climbing. Put it on the list for next year.
Susan Nuzum
I loved the race and will share it with all my Illinois friends, I have just recently moved to CO and like to recommend good races to friends back home. Hopefully next year we can get a group out here! Thanks again,
Barb Franzen
I loved the race, not having run those trails prior. I will definitely run it again and pass on my enthusiasm to fellow runners and triathletes. Thank you sooooo much for putting on the race, it was fantastic!!!
Jael Morgan
I just wanted to give my sincere thanks to a wonderful event yesterday!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular course, beautiful views, gorgeous weather, and gracious assistance from all the volunteers at every aid station! If next year’s event contains the 50K again or possibly a 50-miler, count me in!
Thanks again for this great opportunity to run in my backyard!
Charity Larson
I came all the way from Chicago (elev. 750ft) to run the 50k, and glad I did. The volunteers were great. I appreciate their effort and enthusiasm. The coarse was nice, with well spaced aid stations. Thanks for putting on a great race. I am looking forward to 2010!
Jonathan
Thank you again for allowing the swap with David Beebe for the 50K. I’m sure you had a million things going on last week.
The race was great the aid stations were spectacular. The volunteers were great. All the runners of all distances were very supportive.
The weather was good too, better than hot.
Thanks on a great race, I’ll register early next year.
Best,
Kenyon Waugh
Despite falling and having one of the slowest and worst finishes in half-marathon history, I was able to hobble across the finish line of your terrific event : )
Kudos to all for a great experience. Indian Summer North Aid volunteers rock – they were outstanding, encouraging and a lot of fun – not to mention how helpful they were to me and all the runners I saw go through. Loved all the treats!!!
The event was truly well organized (and I’m a critic, believe me. There were no surprises because of all the pre-race details provided. The finish line “crowd” actually sounded like a crowd and managed to make me feel better. And thanks for the peanut butter (yum yum) and other after-race goodies.
I have been in larger, more expensive events and feel you outdid them – great value and enthusiasm, by miles!
thanks again for a terrific morning
Happy trails.
Linda
I LOVED the Blue Sky Half Marathon. It was an extremely tough course – I was actually proud of 2:07, about 22 minutes slower than I’m used to for halves – but also a beautiful one and I had a blast. It was extremely well run – better than many road half marathons! – and well marked. The volunteers were outstanding and friendly and, especially important, really encouraging. And what a spread after the race. I didn’t even need to eat lunch!
What a great event guys. I’ll be back next year.
Dan England
Just a note of thanks to the organizers of the inaugural Bluesky marathon and half marathon! From a racers perspective, the race was an undisputed success. The vibe after the race was overwhelmingly positive, and I do believe a good time was had by all, despite the tougher-than-expected course. Everyone I spoke to after the race was positive about the experience, despite the pain that most appeared to have endured over the last few miles. Here’s to many more years of success and growth for Fort Collins’ only trail marathon.
Nick Clark
