Local Yokels...

The Houska Houska has run it's last race. After 22 years of holding this event, which became a big fundraiser for community cancer services, the founders have decided to move on with other pursuits.

So now I will have to find something else to do on future Memorial Days. I appreciate the dedication of the Houskas to the event, it takes a lot of commitment to keep something going singlehandedly for 22 years. The community owes them a huge thanks.

No I'm not going back to the Bolder Boulder. Been there enough, done that enough. I don't do crowds. Might have to invent a new adventure run.

Speaking of crowds, in other running-related news, sounds as if there is a tiff between the new entity in charge of the Colorado Marathon held in May each year down the Poudre Canyon, and Steve Cathcart, the founder of a proposed new race down Big Thompson Canyon, site of the massive flood in 2013 (and 1976). Steve has named the new race the Colorado Fall Classic Marathon and the people who took over the Colorado Marathon from Steve and others recently, objects to the name.

This is what I've heard through the running community, and I don't know the full details. But if the way it's explained is true, I don't understand the WATBs. Steve started organizing this months ago and they apparently didn't object to it back then. Is this about money and ego, or sport? I really don't see how anyone is going to be hurt in any way by having similar named races locally.

There is another half marathon, 5K and 10K in Fort Collins that has been around for years, called the Colorado Run, and it's on Labor Day. The Colorado Marathon also holds a half-marathon, 10K and 5K with it's marathon event in May. Do they have a problem with the Colorado Run? What is it about "Fall Classic" that is confusable with a spring marathon?

The Colorado marathon fills to capacity and this sport is big enough to sustain multiple events of the same length within short time spans of each other. No one is going to die because two marathons in the same county have Colorado in their name. Therefore I think it's a waste of time, money and energy. Do we really have to make attorneys any wealthier? They really are the only ones who benefit from these things.

I am not sure why two entities in the same sport cannot hold different events and have duplication of two words in their names. Anyone?