Huang successfully defended his Steamworks Half Marathon crown, as he won the race in 1 hour, 18 minutes and 27.71 seconds and finished with a 5 minute, 59 second pace. Sam Yount, who was the pre-race favorite before Huang\u2019s last-minute sign-up, was second in 1:19.19.14, while Brian Miller rounded out the top-three in 1:25.02.<\/p>\n
On the women\u2019s side, it was Maggie Yount who continued her dominance in Durango races, as she repeated as women\u2019s champion in 1:28.58, despite battling a stomach bug. Her time was good enough for a fifth-place finish among all runners.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t my best day I\u2019d say, and had some stomach issues earlier this week that decided to come up again during the race,\u201d Yount said. \u201cI told (Krichman), the race director, at Mile 6, I was ready to jump into that car. I\u2019m glad I finished, and more importantly, am glad that there are so many female front runners this year. There were a few of us who were able to break 1:30, and it\u2019s really great for Durango racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yount, despite feeling under the weather, set the tone for the race as she came out strong, and ran at a 6:47 pace. She was one of two women who broke the 90-minute barrier. Megan Longinotti was the other, as she took second in 1:29.35. Mary Whitt of Bayfield was the third-fastest female finisher and crossed the line in 1:41.47.<\/p>\n
The race returned to its traditional June race day this year after Krichman estimated that 30% of runners who signed up in last year\u2019s race were unable to compete the makeup date in August because of June\u2019s 416 Fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, the runners were super understanding after we had to postpone the race, and there was no question it was the right decision,\u201d Krichman said. \u201cThe smoke was so severe and we rescheduled it to a date in August. It did affect it because a lot of people couldn\u2019t make it to our make-up date. We extended a 50% discount to anybody last year who couldn\u2019t make it, so we basically made good on it and today was a huge hit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steamworks Brewery co-founder Brian McEachron said that the half marathon is always one of the favorite events the brewery helps sponsor, and this year\u2019s race lived up to the billing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to come back and experience what we love,\u201d McEachron said. \u201cThis is why we live, work and play in Durango. It was a great day for running, we had a great selection, the beer was cold and we\u2019re going to keep on having fun and putting this race on.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it was a bit of redemption for some runners who were unable to compete in last year\u2019s race, this year also featured young runners who tried their hand at a half marathon. Ten-year-old Kennan Barrett, who ran with his mother, Denise, took second in the male 17-and-under age division and pushed through the pain to have a strong finish. He finished in 2:41.33.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I enjoyed it a lot, I had some tears near the end and it was really tough, but I had a strong finish through the rest, and it was awesome,\u201d he said. \u201cOverall, I did really good for my age and stuff, and I think I could start doing these more and could get better at them, too.\u201d<\/p>\n The race raised more than $5,000 for the Marc Witkes Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded every semester to athletes of the Fort Lewis College men\u2019s and women\u2019s cross-country teams and is provided through the Durango Running Club.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always so grateful for everything this race does, and the money for the scholarship is always really special,\u201d Krichman said. \u201cOver the years, the fund has grown to over $100,000 and is now an endowment. It\u2019s pretty cool, and if you look around the Durango running community, you can point to people who went to Fort Lewis College on that scholarship fund who are still here, still running and might not have been able to go to college without that. This race means the world to so many people and it\u2019s easy to see why.\u201d<\/p>\n