In 2009 Blue Sky Events donated all of the proceeds of the Blue Sky Marathon races to three worthy, local groups. Thanks to our race participants, volunteers and sponsors, Blue Sky Events has been able to donate over $10,000 to these groups in the past two years.
The largest beneficiary of the races is our race host, Larimer County Parks and Open Spaces. The county will use the donation to protect and maintain the trails in Horsetooth Mountain Park, the Blue Sky Trail and the trails in Devils Backbone that the race is run on. The county has been a great host to the race over the past two years, providing race parking and the support from county rangers. We are glad to be able to work with the county to continue to put on these races and provide money to maintain the wonderful trails.
A second beneficiary was Larimer County Search and Rescue. LCSAR is a volunteer nonprofit organization that provides search and rescue services to the county free of charge. NCSR provides volunteers and medical support at the Indian summer aid stations in the races. They are the wonderful people in the orange shirts that are passing out water and helping injured runners with immediate first aid.
Our third beneficiary was the Northern Colorado Running Foundation. This donation was used to support the Fort Collins Middle School Cross Country program in its second year. NCRF along with the Runner’s Roost purchased and screened racing singlets for all of the middle school cross country teams in the Poudre School District to compete in throughout the fall racing season. Sixth, seventh and eighth graders will race in these singlets for years to come.
