Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Doubling down for a cause

Runners hit trails, roads for annual half-marathons
The trail race of the Durango Double Trail & Road Half Marathons got underway Saturday morning at Animas Surgical Hospital. The event will continue this morning with a 13-mile road run. Proceeds go to the Women’s Resource Center.

On a crisp autumn morning at the Animas Surgical Hospital, about 230 runners stretched, paced and jumped up and down in preparation for the annual Durango Double Trail & Road Half Marathons, a popular weekend of running that sold out well in advance.

Proceeds from the event will go toward the Women’s Resource Center of Durango, which provides educational programming and referral services to women and girls in La Plata County.

Saturday’s half-marathon – the trail portion of the weekend – took off up the Animas River Trail, headed into Horse Gulch and then up Telegraph Trail, a scenic and popular route. Runners carefully watched their footing early in the run after recent storms compromised trail conditions.

For today, 228 runners are signed up for the road run, which will follow the river trail up and back after a loop around the north side of the city.

First-year event director Brendan Trimboli said the trail-run course was reversed to accommodate for storm damage.

“We had to reverse the direction and send people up the Gulch early rather than later, so they could get the rocky technical stuff over sooner,” he said. “It’s a little more technical than it was before the storms.”

Trimboli called running his passion, but when the sneakers are replaced by dress shoes and he’s behind the scenes, he recognizes the amount of work required to pull off an event like the Durango Double.

“You can’t control everything,” he said. “You hope that no one rolls an ankle out there over the rocks, and yesterday, it was raining.”

In addition to supporting a healthful lifestyle, the runner’s are helping a nonprofit.

“We’re going to be raising a lot of money for the Women’s Resource Center, Trimboli said.

Trimboli said the race could bring in more than $15,000.

He added that women made up about 70 percent of runners for the weekend.

“I think that’s really cool to see,” he said.

Liz Mora, executive director of the Women’s Resource Center, said she’s not surprised to see women turning out for the 13-mile runs.

“Women are notorious for setting goals and doing it,” Mora said.

Trimboli said 102 runners will be going at it for both days – two half-marathons in a row, back-to-back, one day on the trail and one of the pavement.

Laramie Smith had a friend cancel at the last minute. So Smith, an avid runner, took his place for all 26 miles.

“About four or five miles in and you feel nice and relaxed and get a good rhythm going,” he said. “That’s what I like about running.”

Trimboli said 197 runners finished the run on Saturday.

bmathis@durangoherald.com

Oct 18, 2014
Races raise $25,000 for women’s center


Reader Comments