{"id":26306,"date":"2024-08-04T16:04:26","date_gmt":"2024-08-04T22:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/boggy-draw-beat-down-invites-southwest-colorado-cyclists-to-test-limits\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:37:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:37:38","slug":"boggy-draw-beat-down-invites-southwest-colorado-cyclists-to-test-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/boggy-draw-beat-down-invites-southwest-colorado-cyclists-to-test-limits\/","title":{"rendered":"Boggy Draw Beat Down invites Southwest Colorado cyclists to test limits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The 2024 Boggy Draw Beat Down, which started and ended on the streets of town before heading on to the single track Boggy Draw trail system, enjoyed a record turnout of over 200 competitors. The race offered six different race categories while bringing in racers from all over the southwest region. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DOLORES \u2013 For many endurance athletes, the number 26 represents a milestone \u2013 surviving through the rigorous challenge of a marathon\u2019s 26.2 miles to see the finish line in sight.<\/p>\n

The Boggy Draw Beat Down has persevered through its own marathon of sorts \u2013 one of the Four Corners\u2019 most hotly contested mountain bike races entered its 26th year on Saturday. With it, hundreds of riders climbed out of Dolores and onto a trek that would see them crisscross dozens of miles of single-track trails in the Boggy Draw trail system.<\/p>\n

Competing in a variety of distances, ranging from the 60-mile \u201cBeat Down\u201d all the way down to the brand-new family-friendly \u201cEasy Breezy\u201d 3-mile town ride, the number of entrants and the impressive legacy of the race continues to grow.<\/p>\n

Instrumental support from the Southwest Colorado Cycling Association keeps the trail system in top condition, helping make Boggy Draw one of the region\u2019s premier riding destinations. According to race director Susan Lisak, the SWCCA and the Rotary Club of Dolores are just a couple of the many organizations that have allowed the Beat Down to flourish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe start our preparations a year in advance, and it starts with a group of about 25 volunteers through the Rotary, working with sponsors and the National Forest Service \u2013 until we get all the details sorted out,\u201d Lisak said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The 2024 Boggy Draw Beat Down, which started and ended on the streets of town before heading on to the single track Boggy Draw trail system, enjoyed a record turnout of over 200 competitors. The race offered six different race categories while bringing in racers from all over the southwest region. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Between the six different race distances, the event eclipsed over 200 riders, a number that has more than doubled over the past decade. With each passing year, the Beat Down adds new elements to accommodate the growing interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith so many family members waiting for their racer to complete, we thought we\u2019d add in a simple 3-mile ride this year to help them get involved, too,\u201d Lisak said. \u201cIt\u2019s a race that has changed so much from where we began. We were using stop watches and writing results down on paper \u2013 now we have the professional timing, finishing photos, a professional emcee \u2013 it\u2019s been a major evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the thousands of dollars raised through sponsorship, the Rotary Club of Dolores has allocated money toward scholarships, food boxes and bike giveaways.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is student leadership, so a lot of the money that we raise goes toward the kids in our community,\u201d Lisak said.<\/p>\n

While social media has been a prominent way for the Beat Down to continue gaining traction, participants have driven the biggest boost.<\/p>\n

\u201cWord-of-mouth has been a major promotion for this event \u2013 a lot of our new racers have heard about it through friends who enjoyed the Beat Down in previous years,\u201d said Lisak.<\/p>\n

In the 33-mile \u201cOso\u201d men\u2019s competition, Ivan Sippy, 20, claimed the top spot in 2 hours, 12 minutes, topping Durango\u2019s Erich McAlister (2 hours, 30 minutes) and Ross Delaplane of Dolores (2 hours, 32 minutes). For the women, Durango\u2019s Blair Matlock won with a time of 2 hours, 47 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"The
The 2024 Boggy Draw Beat Down, which started and ended on the streets of town before heading on to the single track Boggy Draw trail system, enjoyed a record turnout of over 200 competitors. The race offered six different race categories while bringing in racers from all over the southwest region. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the 18-mile \u201cOverlook\u201d distance, women took the top two overall spots. Diedre Morrison, 33, won with a time of 1 hour, 23 minutes, less than a minute ahead of 15-year-old Delyla Kroenang. Allison Klein of Cortez (1 hour, 53 minutes) posted the third-place finish for the women.<\/p>\n

In the men\u2019s division, Marc Sydnor, 61, posted the best time (1 hour, 28 minutes), ahead of Hesperus\u2019 Dean Brown (1 hour 30 minutes) and Shea Allen (1 hour, 33 minutes).<\/p>\n

Dolores\u2019 James Neer, 17, collected the top spot in the 15-mile \u201cGoose\u201d race, covering the distance in 1 hour, 52 seconds, narrowly edging Jarrett Cheney (1:01:06). Daniel Rogers of Dolores took third, less than a minute off the pace.<\/p>\n

Miranda Rodriguez, 18, won the women\u2019s division with a time of 1:17:34, just 17 seconds ahead of Ridgway\u2019s Neva Hines, 17. Florida teenager Caroline Condon, 14, took third in the women\u2019s race with a time of 1:18:46.<\/p>\n

Results from the 60-mile \u201cBeat Down\u201d and \u201cThree Amigos\u201d relay event were not available at press time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2024 Boggy Draw Beat Down, which started and ended on the streets of town before heading on to the single track Boggy Draw trail system, enjoyed a record turnout of over 200 competitors. The race offered six different race categories while bringing in racers from all over the southwest region. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,657,28,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-26306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-cycling","tag-headlines","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79308,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26306\/revisions\/79308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26306"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=26306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}