Emily Hanenburg turned aside a bid from Ruby Bode to claim her title; Kelly Christensen ran uncontested to his. Photos by Marcel and Joel Such.
If the Fastest Coach in the State Race continues to grow at the pace it did between last year and this (and the plans are to grow this race), it's soon going to become a fairly big deal to win this thing.
In the meantime, though, somebody is going to have to find a way to rein in Kelly Christensen of Thompson Valley. Even his head coach is fresh out of clues. At times, you almost think he's still running in the scarlet and gray of Western State.
Christensen wasted no time in moving to the front of the field and opening an insurmountable gap on the field. His finish time would stop the clock at 16:03. Although this one ended up being a little slower than his last one (altitude and course difficulty may have something to do with that), Christensen now owns two wins in the last two weekends, as well as two wins in the first two Fastest Coach in the State races. This could become habit forming for the TV assistant coach who smiles easily and often. Richey Hansen of Peak to Peak and Matt Norton of Thompson Valley were the next two coaches to cross the finish, but at just over 18 minutes.
The women's contest was much closer. After moving out to an early lead, Emily Hanenburg was challenged by Ruby Bode at about one mile. For a moment, it appeared as if Bode would move right on by, but Hanenburg stuck with last year's champion, running more or less shoulder-to-shoulder for another mile before Hanenburg had worn down the charge from Estes Park's coach. In the final circuit of the revamped St. Vrain course, Hanenburg was able to open a gap of roughly four seconds to claim the Fastest Female Coach in the State title, 20:47 to 20:51.
The course provided a first glimpse at next fall's planned revision of the St. Vrain course, a criterium type of course that features three circuits, each one with variations on the others, and each circuit measuring close to one mile. Spectators will be able to view almost the entire race from two or three easily-reached vantage points.
Discussion circulating around next year's event has already included opening a parents division and a Colorado high school alumni division of the race.
Meet Results, Photo Albums, and Video
Note that the 400 meter time trial video attached to this meet was a contest among Lyons cross country team members and not any coaches. Thus, no hamstrings were harmed in the filming of the video.