If it ain’t broke ...
The annual Steamworks Half Marathon is one of those things.
“We don’t mess with a winning formula, so it’s pretty much identical to last year,” race director Matthew Krichman said a few days in advance of the annual event.
What identical means:
13.1 “beautiful” miles along East Animas Road from Baker’s Bridge to the Durango Sports Club starting at 8 a.m. Saturday.
A maxed-out, 300-person field, which filled up just two weeks after registration opened in February.
An after-race pool party with plenty of barbecue and, of course, Steamworks beer.
“I think what people like about it is it’s a beautiful course. It’s a relatively easy course,” Krichman said. “We get a lot of folks who have never run a race of this distance before, and they’re able to do it because it’s not super hilly.
“I don’t know, it’s just hard to argue with a race where you get a pool party and burgers and beer at the finish line,” said Krichman, who ran the half marathon four times before taking over as race director. “It was always my favorite race as a runner just because you work really hard for 13 miles, and you get a nice reward at the finish line.”
For the top finishers, that reward will be just about an hour out of reach from the start line.
Last year, Bayfield High School alumnus Steve Flint won the race in 1 hour, 11 minutes, 49 seconds, setting a new Steamworks Half Marathon record. He’s not listed in this year’s registration list, but second-place finisher Logan Ott is listed as part of Saturday’s field.
Ott, a Fort Lewis College and Mancos High School alumnus who finished in 1:14.24, also was the 2011 winner, about a minute slower.
For the women, Kara Barnard finished first last year in 1:25.15.
Saturday will feature an early start at 7:15 a.m. for walkers who anticipate needing more than 2½ hours to finish, before the main race starts at 8 a.m.
Registration costs $60 per runner. The entry fee earns runners a T-shirt, pint glass and finisher’s medal, all donated by Steamworks, in addition to the food and beer.
Proceeds cover the cost of the race and will help fund the Durango Motorless Transit running club and also will provide a pot of money donated to local charitable organizations and an FLC running scholarship.
Last year the race donated several thousands of dollars to Manna Soup Kitchen and the La Plata Humane Society.
“That’s why I do it,” Krichman said. “Otherwise it’s just a bunch of people out there having a good time. Which is also cool.”
jsojourner@durangoherald.com
