Marathon of Trail Races Returns to Cheyenne Mountain

Oct. 9 event could serve as preview for XTERRA Series in Colorado

Running a marathon is supposed to be difficult enough. Imagine the 26.2-mile course going up and down a mountain trail. And in the thin air of Colorado.

The second annual XTERRA Marathon of Trail Races will offer those challenges to runners. Around 300 of them are expected to participate in the event, which is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 9, at Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The event features three separate trail runs - a 42-kilometer (full marathon distance) course, a 21-kilometer course, and a 5-kilometer course - all along the picturesque trails of Cheyenne Mountain. As race director Victoria Seahorn likes to put it: "Beautiful courses … beautiful challenges."

The grueling full-marathon course has several uphill sections, including climbs to more than 6,800 feet above sea level. The top runners in the field are expected to take around four hours to complete the course.

Most of the runners in the event will enter the half-marathon, which follows the same trail as the full marathon (the full marathon course is actually two laps of the half-marathon course).

Seahorn said most of the entries are from Colorado, so those runners should be used to the altitude. "Training at altitude is the best, but for those that are coming from lower elevations, hill training and coming a few days early to Colorado Springs will help them acclimate to the altitude," she said.

The Marathon of Trail Races could also serve as a trailhead of sorts for future XTERRA Trail Runs in Colorado. Seahorn said she would like to add two more races to the schedule - perhaps as soon as 2011 - to create an XTERRA Colorado Trail Run Series. In order to qualify as an XTERRA Series, a region must have at least three separate trail running events.

Other states that currently host an XTERRA Trail Run Series are Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

For more information on the Marathon of Trail Races, visit www.marathonmajic.com.

XTERRA Marathon of Trail Races

Where: Cheyenne State Park, Colorado Springs, Colo.
When: Saturday, Oct. 9; 8 a.m. start
Entry fees: $65 for marathon, $45 for half-marathon, $25 for 5K (fees rise $10 for race-day registration)

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