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Durango cross-country team to support youth races

Event in its 13th years

The defending Colorado High School Activities Association’s boys 4A cross-country champions and current second-ranked girls team will volunteer to help out the next generation of Durango’s speed Demons.

The 13th DHS and Durango Parks and Recreation sponsored youth races are scheduled to take place the next two Wednesday afternoons, Oct. 5 and Oct. 12. The free events are organized by Durango resident Gerry Geraghty, and, with the decorated Demons team helping out with logistics and running alongside future DHS stars, the races provide a great opportunity for youngsters who love to run.

“We will absolutely be supporting these youth races, which are great for the community,” Durango High School cross-country coach David McMillan said. “Gerry has a wonderful capacity to give back to the community, so we will have our team out there running, keeping times and helping with the registration beforehand. It really is a great event that brings out kids of all ages to run and have fun.”

The after-school races will begin with registration at 3:40 p.m. at the Durango High School track. Preschool to fourth-grade participants will run a mile, and parents are welcome to run with their child. The fifth- through eighth-graders will run a 1½ miles.

Though the track isn’t available because of the recent construction at the DHS facility, the race will be an out-and-back style run along the river trail in which kids can race alongside the talented Demons.

“When I first started this thing, Tad Elliott was running up front,” Geraghty said, referencing the world-class professional cross-country ski racer who graduated from DHS in 2007. “Then came guys like Joe Maloney and Seamus Millett, and it became a passing of the torch.”

Geraghty brought the idea for the youth races from California, and took the event to Jackson, Wyoming, where he won a state title as a high school cross-country coach.

“I helped coach in California, and it was always a nice recruiting tool to get kids interested in running at the high school level,” Geraghty said. “It’s a good chance for the team to give back to their sport and the kids who will follow in their footsteps. Most of the high schoolers remember participating when they were kids, so they know how meaningful it is.”

jfries@durangoherald.com



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