5k's , ultras and ducks

Square State Striders had plenty to share for their ‘What I Did This Summer’ assignment. Some of it even sounded fun!

 Sam Wood: 

"Finished a nice little Spartan race in Boise & my 8th Leadville 100 in back to back weekends this month."

Phil Stafford

"Neversummer 100k:

Big day in the mountains, basically consisted of getting passed in the back-half by a bunch of old dudes in Lone Peak 5’s. Someday I’ll be as good as them :) "

JT : 

Sent in some postcards:

Jeffrey Eggleston: The Sisyphus of Boulder CO. Racing 800m after 800m, whether it be 2 laps or 4 (indoor), he has shoved the boulder of 60 sec lap pace to the near precipice of the mythical 2 minute barrier. For the stone to roll back down the mountain each time. He hath been taunted by unofficial timing listings with later to be amended additional tenths. Be his speedsuit or sprint spike, the speed of sound has not been broken in northern Colorado yet. But when it does finally you will know.  

Neil McDonagh: Has nearly fully completed his metamorphosis to a nocturnal athlete. Both training at night (finished the entire series of 'Better Call Saul' on his treadmill) and a few sparing races after sunset. Taking the Colorado soil record (run in Colorado altitude) Mile record back from the dastardly (ok he's pretty cool actually) Anthony Bruns of Denver; in 4:23 at the Mile High Mile in Boulder. 

Followed up by a couch surf in LA with his brother in-law and underage coaches, Erin & Julia, providing distinct instructions of 'You gotta win' at the Tracksmith Twilight 5000 in Los Angeles, coming across the line in first with a time of 14:55. Making it 3 decades of sub 15 5k's. Neil's committed to racing in much cooler albeit disgustinger conditions during this fall/winter cross country season.

Ruth Leibfritz braved an event put on by Lifetime Fitness which is admirable in itself!

I ran the Leadville Marathon on June 28th! I was aiming to finish in 6 hours, but it was closer to 6:40. I swear if I had trekking poles, I could have won the whole thing. But on the plus side, I saw a mountain goat at the top and didn't fall down. Will absolutely be doing it again, with more vert and downhill training.

New team member, Tim Allen, is easing his way into full Strider territory. Tim had a massive dilemma on his hands. I think he can sleep easy with his choice. 

“I signed up for the Sheep Mountain 50k in FairPlay. Trained, felt great, no injuries…..then my 10 year old nephew dangled a nothing included trip to Lone Duck Lake Campground In Woodland Park the same weekend. We ate hotdogs and s’mores and stayed in a real life cabin. No regrets. Additional summer runs are TBD.”

Gerald and Keri Romero:

You all don't realize that I get snippets of race info from Gerald, like I am communicating with the Zodiac killer. I finally have broken down and just put all his texts into AI to summarize what they have been up to: 

Gerald and Kari have been busy stacking up races this summer. Gerald ran the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile on June 8, finishing in 1:09:57. On June 7, Kari won the women’s race at the 6-hour Run the Sticks in Norton, Kansas, earning a big bottle of bourbon whiskey labeled “Do Epic Shit.” Gerald then tackled the Leadville Heavy Half on June 28, placing 1st in the 50–59 division, 7th overall, and reaching 4th place up to the turnaround at Mosquito Pass. From there, he kept rolling with the Vail Hill Climb on July 5 (7.6 miles up to mid-Vail), finishing 20th overall and 2nd in his age group with a time of 1:04:47. On July 20, he ran the Barr Trail Mountain Race in 2:05, winning the 50–59 age group and finishing 4th master overall—just behind three competitors still in their 40s.

Meanwhile, Kari completed the Mad Moose Pikes Peak Ultra 50K and the Sheep Mountain 50K on August 2. The following weekend, Gerald raced the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon on August 9, where he won the 50–59 division, placed 16th overall, and ran 1:26. The very next day he was in Leadville again for the Trail 10K, where he won his age group on a course entirely above 10,200 feet, finishing strong after a brutal uphill final three miles. On August 16, Gerald added a 2nd place finish in the Cheyenne Mountain 10K, earning $75 and a Mountain Chalet gift card, while Kari ran the 25K event.

No one should wish ill will towards Adam Rich. But I ain't gonna lie, this is the best race report he's ever submitted. But as founding Strider, Logan Wealing , states "correlation is not causation", so I won't say that this report was because Adam was just in the hospital.   

Race Recaps

6/14/2025

Parker Father’s day 5k: 1st place overall 16:13

7/4/2025 Pueblo Firecracker 5k 1st Place overall (16:42) on a long course 3.19 miles. One of the most disorganized races I’ve run until I ran the Orenge Theory 5k this last week. Ran past the first turn around, had to catch back up to the leader while dodging all the other runners, then both of us almost missed the second turn. Ran to another turn around, then had to dodge all the runners again. Course then goes up one of the most steep and short hills I’ve ever run. 

7/12/2025

Cookie Chase 5k at Sloan’s Lake

12th!!!! Place overall, 15:45. Not a great day for me, but it goes like that. Got beat by two other masters’ runners and the winner ran low 14’s. Pretty humid day by Colorado standards and that crushed me a bit.

7/20/2025

Donor Dash 5k at Washington Park: 1st place overall 16:22 (5:12 avg)

Ok race, not the best effort by any means but a good race for an important cause.

8/2/2025

Run for the Ring at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus: 2nd overall 16:49 (5:19 avg) 3.23 miles.

Nothing great here, got to the race and felt terrible. Stomach was a complete mess and hurting. I knew warming up it was going to be a tough day. Led two of the three laps feeling like garbage and lost the race in the last 400 meters. Cool down felt just as bad. This was the race that showed me I needed to cut mileage a bit as my legs were tired and heavy on top of the stomach issues.

8/9/2025

Arapahoe Warrior 5k: 1st place overall 16:08 (5:10 avg)

Pretty fun but tough course. It’s my second year in a row winning the race. The last half mile is completely uphill which makes everything much harder.

8/17/2025

Race for Research 5k at Washington Park: 1st place overall 16:28 (5:12 avg) 3.16 miles

Ok effort on a very warm day. This was the race that I ran back in 2002 that introduced Rinne and myself to Wasington Park. It is a much smaller event then in years past, but another great cause.

8/23/2025

Rocky Mountain 5k at ATB Park: 1st place overall 16:46 (5:18 avg) 3.17 miles

Interesting course. I should have skipped racing that weekend as I was dealing with an ear/sinus infection combined with a severe tooth issue. It’s still good to get out and race even feeling under the weather.

8/31/2025

Orange Theory 5K: DNF!!!!!

There is so much I could say about this race as I’m now injured due to a completely, terribly run and unsafe event. Here's the news link.

Jeff Kasal ran an extra 50 feet at the end of his recent completion of the Silverheels where he placed 3rd overall, just so he could eclipse the elevation of Everest to finish the Elevations Challenge. Also taking the 'Local Legend' crown of most Silverheels finishes ever (several I assume) and is also purported to remain a family man (by upstanding metrics). 

Melissa Stepanowich also STRAVA'd the birth of a child. Not sure how STRAVA legally identifies that as one or two activities or is it possibly too politically thorny of a discussion for them to entertain. But congrats Stepanowich family.    

Zach Miller moved back home to Manitou Springs. Where his mail has been sent for a decade. He still conducts himself as a man living off inconsistent well water access but I am also familiar with the outage plagued Manitou Springs utilities infrastructure. 

BJ Karlik continues to taunt the lightly policed HOA rules of Rockrimmon and runs his dog off leash around a park smaller than Neil's cemetery loop. He also won the Striders last giveaway of a hat. So did Ruth Black. I have attached them ceremoniously wearing their prizes.