The reasons that I picked the Garden of the Gods race were simple, it's a beautiful course, it's a historical race, I know that it is well organized and some of the guys that I was hoping to share the experience with usually run there. It turned out well, of the seven who said that they would try to run the race five of us actually did.
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| L-R Joe, Walter, Dana, Robert, Gerald |
While the race was the focal point of the trip, something that we could all plan around, it was really about much more than that. It was about making and sharing more memories with good friends. Joe, Walter and I met at a time in our lives when we were all going through some rough spots and our friendship as well as the friendship of others in the same "boat" have continued to grow over the years. Last year when I returned to Colorado the three of us raced together as well. Robert I met when I was a coach at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs in 1985; I was the women's cross country coach the first year but Robert and I became good friends. After that first year I coached the men's program as well and even competed in one meet at Adams State as a member of the team. We lost touch for many years when he graduated and moved away but reconnected at the Winter Series in 2009. I also met Gerald in 1985, I was his 8th grade US History teacher. He was a soccer and baseball player with no interest in running but I tried talking to him about running in high school even though I had not coached at Sierra High School, where he would be going, yet. His 8th grade year I was a volunteer assistant for the girl's team and his freshman year I was hired as an assistant for the girl's program. Gerald did run cross country his freshman year but played baseball during track season. I still don't think he was sold on running. It's a good thing that Sierra didn't have a soccer team at that point or he might have never run cross country. Gerald's sophomore year I became head cross country coach and the rest, as they say, is history. He was a decent runner in high school and went on to run at the University of Southern Colorado before they dropped the program. Fortunately his love of running was deep inside of him and he hasn't stopped, racing almost every weekend. Both Robert and Gerald won the Colorado Runner Magazine Racing Series for the state in their age groups last year and are competing for the title again this year.
Here are some additional pictures from the day:
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| Robert - Joe - Dana |
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| Walt - Gerald |
POST RACE PICTURES
The trip and reunions really started when I arrived in Denver before leaving for Colorado Springs. The first thing I did was go for a run in the area of Denver University. Being back at over 5000 feet was tough. And then later I had the opportunity to have dinner with one of my former athletes at a favorite Denver restaurant, Hacienda Colorado.
The next morning I met Robert at Washington Park for a workout before leaving for Colorado Springs. When I did get to Colorado Springs I saw two other friends, I met Jerry to buy him some cake for his birthday. We had planned to meet at a place that had great cake, The Olive Branch but when we arrived it was no longer in business after over 30 years. I guess change is about the only guarantee when you return to someplace. Jerry went back to work and I stopped to see Randy who I try to see at least briefly whenever I return to the Springs.
That night, Friday, Joe and I got together for Pizza and beer. Saturday I met Gerald for lunch and then we went to the Garden to drive the course and discuss race strategy. (The coach part of me never goes away I guess). Later that day Walter and I met and had past at Fazoli's. A lot of laughs and good conversation.
As I said earlier in this post, last year Joe, Walter and I also ran a race together in Colorado Springs when I visited. The question now is will there be another visit and another race in 2015? Time will tell.
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