Thanks for a Successful 2012 Race!

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Blue Sky Marathon

Once again, our Blue Sky Marathon was a huge success thanks to our generous sponsors and hard working volunteers.

We had ideal running weather this year. The 7am start was a bit chilly but runners quickly warmed up on the climb up Towers Road and the rest of the day was comfortably cool with gorgeous clear blue skies.

128 runners started the race this year. 116 finished under the official 7 hour cut off. Another 5 runners made were recognized for finishing the full course just over the cut off.

Ryan Burch won the race in 3:21:28. A perfect homecoming for Ryan’s first race after returning from basic training earlier in September.

Ryan Burch running through Indian Summer. (Photo by Erin Bibeau)

Kaija Staley won the women’s race in a course record time of 3:57:39. The previous course record was 4:16:47. Kaija is the only woman who has run the race under 4 hours.

And thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we were able to raise over $8,000 for our beneficiaries this year. Funds will be distributed to local trail projects, Larimer County Search and Rescue, and other outdoor programs.

Runners make their way across the valley towards Coyote Ridge during the 2012 Blue Sky Marathon. (Photo by Erin Bibeau)

Khumbu Adventure Gear Sponsors the 2012 Blue Sky Marathon

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Blue Sky Marathon

We would like to welcome Khumbu Adventure Gear as our latest sponsor for the 2012 Blue Sky Marathon.

Khumbu Adventure Gear just opened their doors this last spring in Old Town Fort Collins. They offer a variety of outdoor gear and clothing designed locally here in Ft Collins and made and tested in the Himalayas. Tech shirts, base layers, jackets, packs, tents, sleeping bags, are all very well designed and reasonably priced.

The store will also feature monthly meetups and adventure movie/documentary nights. In addition to providing high quality outdoor gear designed by experienced mountaineers, Khumbu Adventure Gear will organize travel expeditions to Nepal every spring and fall.

Khumbu Adventure Gear will be providing prize packages for our Overall, Masters, and Grand Masters winners and will contributing several other goodies for our post race raffle.

For more information, please visit the Khumbu Adventure Gear store at 109 S College Ave in Old Town. New products are being added to their online catalog every week and you can get new updates from their Facebook page here.

High Park Fire Update

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Blue Sky Marathon

We’ve had several emails asking about the status of our 2012 event and the impact of the High Park fire.

As of now, the fire has been 100% contained and none of the trail systems that the Blue Sky Marathon runs on have been affected. The fire reached the northwest border of Lory State park but crews were able to contain it at the border of the Timber Trail and Well Gulch. All trails in Lory State Park are in good shape and are currently open to the public. Horsetooth Mountain Park and the Devil’s Backbone Open Space were not affected by the fire.

The current fire containment doesn’t mean that it is out completely. It will take a large amount of rain or more likely snow later this fall to fully put out the fire. So there is still a risk that it could restart at some point this summer. The majority of our Blue Sky Marathon course runs through the Devil’s Backbone Open Space where there is little to no risk of fire on the actual course. But there is still a chance that our race could be cancelled due to park or road closures from fire activity in our area.

Every year there is always a chance that park management could cancel our event due to extreme rain and mud, snow, or fire. But we feel that the risk of cancelling our race this year is no greater than any other year and plan to proceed with the event as usual.

For the most accurate maps and news updates, you can check out the DTS Wildfire site here:

http://co.dtswildfire.com/home/Flex

2012 Blue Sky Marathon

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Blue Sky Marathon

The 2012 Blue Sky Marathon has been officially scheduled for Sunday, October 7th. Registration will open on June 1st. This year we have eliminated the Half Marathon event to reduce congestion on the out and back portion of the course and enable us to increase the size of our marathon field. Registration is limited to 250 entrants and we expect to start 200 marathon runners on race day. SmartWool and Colorado Physical Therapy Specialists have signed on to sponsor the 2012 event and we would like to welcome Justin K. Liddle DMD, LLC and Countryside Animal Hospital as new sponsors this year. Our generous sponsors and contributors and hard working volunteers have helped make the Blue Sky Marathon a success each year. In 2011, we raised over $8,000 for our beneficiaries and we hope to continue to improve on this in 2012.