2022 Choice City Running Event Recap
The first year of the Choice City Running Event was a success! This year, two iconic Fort Collins races (The Mountain Avenue Mile and The Human Race) merged to create the first multi-day running event in town.
Since COVID, races and events have struggled to come back and the ones that have are facing major cost increases and restrictions. Both The Mountain Ave Mile and The Human Race have been traditional summer races run in downtown Fort Collins just before the kids go back to school in late August.
For almost 20 years The Mountain Ave Mile ran on a Thursday night and was organized by local running great, Jane Welzel. After her passing in 2014 at age 59 to pancreatic cancer, several of her friends and training partners continued the organization of the race in her honor until 2020 when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Human Race started in 1983 and for the last 39 years has run different courses in the downtown area, changing routes over the years based on race size and distances, traffic, and city permit approvals. In 2012, Green Events, took on the management of the race and in 2014 established the new courses on Mountain Avenue, starting and finishing at Civic Center Park, and adding the half marathon distance.
Bringing both of these races back after COVID was a huge hurdle. Almost like starting them from scratch but with double the expenses. For both races to survive and hopefully thrive, the merging of the two events seemed to be the best strategy and a win for runners to have multiple days of running excitement. With similar finishing and course locations it just made sense to do back-to-back days and benefit from shared traffic control, finish area set-up, and marketing and promotion.
The Mountain Avenue Mile was officially renamed the Jane Welzel Mountain Avenue Mile to continue her legacy . While both races maintain their individual names the Choice City Running Event was chosen as the overall name for the entire event.
Kicking off the event on Thursday evening, packet pickup was hosted by New Belgium Brewery. The evening included a book signing by Neely-Spence Gracey showcasing her new book “Breakthrough Women’s Running” as well as a panel of speakers including the top competitors and pushrim racers who later set the Colorado State Record in the 1-Mile pushrim division.
On Friday evening, competitors gathered for multiple 1-Mile race waves starting with the kids 12 & under at 6:30 pm. Each new wave followed every 10 minutes for each category to test their speed on the “faster than flat” point-to-point 1-Mile course running slightly downhill (-37 ft) and finishing at Civic Center Park.
This year the Jane Welzel Mountain Avenue Mile hosted both the 2022 RRCA (Road Runners Club of America) and USATF (USA Track and Field) 1-Mile Championship races for Colorado. With so much on the line it was no surprise the course record for both the men and women was broken. Ryan Birkmeier, xc and track runner for CSU, lowered the men’s side to 4:07 and Carmen Graves of Denver brought the women’s mile record down to 4:45. Runner-ups in the elite field included Lauren Neugeboren and Anna Petr who both compete for CSU. The top five women all broke 5 minutes. Runner-ups on the men’s side were Alejandor Martinez Ambrosio of Boulder and Tom Oates. Cash prizes for top 3 and Salomon running shoes for overall winners were the reward for all the hard work.
In the push-rim division Julia Beckley was the 1-Mile chair champion and set the female record on a certified course in the state of Colorado in 5:21. Mike Sales set the men’s record in 4:33 (pending ratification) followed by Dennis Gordon and Martin Dawson. The top three racers all won gift cards courtesy of Altitude Running.
In the Middle/High School wave sponsored by Sage Benefit Advisors, Cy Teruel took the win in 4:43 with Paul Mick and Jacob Blocker close behind. On the girls’ side, Elise Porter won it in 5:57 with Ilaria Hinton and Elizabeth Hough giving her a run for the money.
Top Men and Women in the Citizen’s Division crushed it and all won gift cards to Runners Roost.
The top women were Marie Morrier – 5:30, Kendra Mack – 5:42, and Danielle Alvarez – 5:53.
The top men were Isaac Fournier – 4:37, Sam Dailey – 4:55, and William Rowsam – 4:58.
In the kids race, Sloan Groendyk, age 10, won the girls race in 6:12 (fast family- her big brother Christian Groendyk competed in the elite race and Carey was 3rd in the middle school mile!)
Robert Stepanov, from Colorado Springs, age 8, won for the boys in a smoldering time of 5:39.
All the kids earned Walrus Ice Cream and custom medals for their efforts!
In the men’s Master’s (40+) race earning titles of both Mountain Ave and USATF CO Champs, Vitaly Stepanov, 4:43 took the win followed by Thomas French, 4:49 and Trent Mack, 5:03. On the Women’s side AnnMarie Kirkpatrick won in 5:11, then Amy Armstrong, 5:25 and Julie Tripp, 6:02.
Crossing the finish line into the after-party meant sipping Mountain Time beer from Title Sponsor New Belgium Brewing, music by The 14ers, activities from vendors like Runners Roost, Altitude Running, Salomon Running, Morning Fresh Dairy and REI while munching on chips and salsa from The Rio Restaurant.
Carrying on the legacy of this race is an honor, and we are thankful to each and every one of you who came to race whether it was your 1st or your 24th!
Special thanks to Mayor Jeni Arndt and her mom, Libby James for filling the role of official race starter and getting everyone off on the right foot!
If anyone is looking for even more competition, check out the Noco Mile Series. This collaboration one mile race series with Windsor and Loveland awards runners who compete in all three events with the chance to win more cash and prizes. Points will be awarded after each race based on time/place and participation. Loveland was August 26, 2022 and Windsor is September 24, 2022.
After all the excitement on Friday night there was still more to come with The Human Race 5k, 10k, and Half Marathon races kicking off Saturday morning. Many runners were happy to be able to run the 1-mile Friday night and then come back for a longer distance race in the morning.
The half marathon started first taking runners on a unique tour of town. Running up Mountain Avenue and then turning north down to the Poudre Bike Trail, runners enjoyed the next 8 miles on the bike path cutting through the city in a corridor of nature along the Poudre River until looping back to downtown to the finish at Civic Center Park.
Luke Sundberg, an Aurora based athlete finished 1st overall with a time of 01:15:34. Having run cross country for Valor Christian High School, Luke also ran for Kansas State University. Matthew Drake finished 2nd overall (1:19:51), followed by Ben Gadomski finishing 3rd in 1:23:32.
Becca Sawyer finished 4th overall and 1st female overall. The 38-year-old maintained an average pace of 07:27 and finished with a time of 01:37:38. Second female was Sophia Joganich in 1:43:45 and Kaitlyn McCrystal 3rd in 1:44:16
The 10k started next and is one of our favorite regular running routes. This big loop course mysteriously sandwiches downhill miles in the middle with fast and flat miles at both ends. Well, not entirely true, there is an uphill towards the end but the downhill between miles 2-5 are what make the race fun. Carter Campbell won the 10k in 34:55, (average pace of 05:37 min/mile). According to his website, this is a new personal best improving his previous 10k PR of 35:11 run at the Fortitude 10k.
Professional triathlete, Sarah Piampiano, with a time of 37:34, won the women’s race and was 3rd overall. Sarah maintained an average pace of 6:03 min/mile throughout the race to. Sarah has competed in, and often times won, many Ironman 70.3 races both state-side and abroad.
The last race to start was the ever-popular 5k with the fast and flat out-and-back course on Mountain Ave racing 100+ year old Birney Car 25 in the Muscle vs Machine, race the trolley challenge. Runners lined up alongside the trolley, that was full of fans and spectators, anxiously awaiting the starting horn. The front of the pack was definitely there to race the trolley, but this race is fun for everyone, and hundreds of participants streamed past the starting line out onto the course. In all, 35 runners beat the trolley and raced on around the course to the finish line.
Representing Fossil Ridge High School Cross Country Team, 17-year-old, Joey Souverein took 1st place in the 5k with a time of 16:47, crossing the finish line 32 seconds before 2nd place winner Joseph Rich (17:19), and 42 seconds before third place winner Carter Brazelton (17:34).
With a 05:50 pace, Shelley McDonald secured a 1st place overall female finish and 3rd overall finish in the 5k with a time of 18:07, just 4 seconds faster than the 2nd place female finisher, Dani Cook (18:11), closely followed by Katie Watson finishing 3rd in 18:24. Shelley is no stranger to the podium, having placed as 1st overall female in the 2022 FireKracker 5k and 1st overall female at the 2022 Loveland Classic 5k earlier this year.
At the post-race party participants enjoyed a pancake breakfast catered by the Fort Collins Snooze restaurant and the second day of the New Belgium Beer Garden. TMule entertained with live music and runners collected custom camp mugs as overall and age-group awards.
Thank you to all the volunteers who made this event possible. So many people worked multiple days to make sure every detail was in place for an amazing event experience!
To see all results, click here
Thank you to all the sponsors who really made this event possible. Your support is what bridges the gap to produce these events.
