- Full Results
- Images from Erin Bibeau Photography (courtesy of Bryan Bibeau)

- TRAIL RACES
- Quad Rock 50/25mi
May 6, 2023 - Never Summer 100k/60k
July 28-30, 2023 - Lory Summer Trail Series
August 9-30, 2022 - Staunton Rocks! Marathon/Half
August 27, 2022 - Black Squirrel Half Marathon
September 10, 2022 - Red Feather Jamboree 50K/Half
September 17, 2022 - Blue Sky Marathon
October 15, 2022 - Gnar Slam
- ROAD RACES
- Long View Marathon/Half
October 2, 2022 - Tortoise & Hare Series
October-April - Resolution Run 5k
December 31, 2022 - Horsetooth Half Marathon
April 16, 2023 - COMMUNITY
- VOLUNTEER
- GNEWS
- STORE
A Roundup from the 5th Running of the Black Squirrel Trail Half Marathon
Lory State Park offers some of the best trail running on Colorado’s Northern Front Range, so it was once again our great honor to be able to host a tour of the perimeter trails at the fifth running of the Black Squirrel Trail Half Marathon. And, with a beautiful sunrise popping up over the eastern shores of Horsetooth Reservoir, a record 330 runners set off on the 13.1 mile tour of Lory State Park on Saturday morning.
In the men’s race, defending champion Stephen Pretak had a good group of runners to work with as he entered the Timber climb, one mile into the race, but by the time he popped out onto the Arthurs Trail at the bottom of the Howard descent some 7 miles later, he was all alone off the front. Pretak would go on to hold his position and notch a second consecutive race win in 1:35:48. In a close battle for second, Pretak was followed home by an exuberant Peter Goble (1:39:23) with Craig Depperschmidt less than 30 seconds back in third (1:39:51).
Two-time winner, Amanda Lee, was a late drop from the women’s field, leaving the race for top honors wide open. Local road running favorite Abby Depperschimdt took to the trails for her first go at the Black Squirrel Half and never looked back, winning the race in a time of 1:52:47. Abby finished a convincing seven minutes ahead of Sarah Omann (2:00:37) who notched her third second-place finish in as many attempts. Rounding out the women’s podium was Loveland’s Stephanie Forrest-Swedenborg in a time of 2:03:00.
Abby Depperscmidt (photo: Danielle Clark); Stephen Pretak (Bryan Bibeau)
The race for the 40+ honors was a battle, as you might expect from our crowd of wily veteran race tacticians. The top three master’s runners in the male division went 8th, 10th and 12th respectively with a good amount of in-race position shifting according to the post-race banter. Ultimately it would be Colorado Spring’s Bryan Beiner bringing home the master’s title in a time of 1:44:33. He was followed into the finish by Mike Neal (1:45:42) and Dan Clark (1:46:21) who, incidentally, went one and two in the master’s race at April’s Horsetooth Half Marathon (where Clark bettered Neal by just six seconds).
In the female 40+ division, we had a repeat winner in the form of Fort Collins’ Catherine Thomas Broom who, on a much warmer day, finished six minutes faster than in 2016 (2:04:57). Rounding out the women’s 40+ division was Steamboat Spring’s Kristi Foster (2:09:53) and Bellvue’s very own Sarah Melby (2:16:24), both of whom we should mention have been enthusiastic volunteers at our races for many years.
This entry was posted in Black Squirrel Half Marathon and tagged 2017, Black Squirrel Half Marathon, race report.
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