It was a record year for the 44th running of the Horsetooth Half Marathon, with a total of 1,649 runners from 40 different states crossing the finish line, eclipsing the previous finisher record from 2012. In the men’s race, our top three finishers all dipped under Paul Peterson’s 2013 course record, with Gebre Abadi setting the new bar at an incredibly fast 1:07:27.
The fast times were aided by the perfect running conditions we were blessed with this year. Race morning temperatures ranged from the low 40s into the mid 50s and gave way to beautiful post-race conditions which ended up being perfect for hanging out and enjoying the New Belgium Finish Line Party. Some years you get lucky!
Colleen Weitzel enjoying a beautiful day midway through the 2017 Horsetooth Half.
Tyler McCandless (right) beats Gabre Abadi and Scott Dahlberg over the hill to win the King of the Hill prem.
In celebration of the hilly nature of the course, we again gave away $100 premiums to the first man and first woman to the top of Monster Mountain, just 1.8 miles into the course. In the exciting race within the race, Tyler McCandless surged ahead of race winner Gebre Abadi and third place finisher Scott Dahlberg near the top of the hill to post a record 9:58 split (5:30 pace), while women’s race winner Maggie Callahan cruised uncontested to claim the Queen of the Mountain crown in 12:18. Full Monster Mountain split times are available here.
From the top of the hill, Maggie Callahan (1:23:25) settled into a rhythm, ultimately growing her 30 second lead into about a minute by the finish over second place finisher Heather Utrata (1:24:13) and 90 seconds over third place finisher and local favorite Dani Cook (1:24:32).
In the men’s race, Gebre Abadi broke open the lead pack of three coming off North Dam hill at about the five mile mark and managed to put a couple of minutes on Tyler (1:09:16) and Scott (1:09:28) who raced shoulder to shoulder until about a half mile from the finish, where Tyler was able to surge for second.
Maggie Callahan wins the women’s race.
Taking home the prize money in the master’s division were Sioux Falls’ Yvonne Smith (1:39:06) and local favorite Dan Clark (1:22:43), who out-kicked owner of Mary’s Mountain Cookies Old Town, Mike Neal, by a slim six seconds.
Age group award winners took home beautiful pottery awards from famed local potter Amy Hayman. For those that weren’t able to collect their awards at the post-race prize giving, they will be available for pickup for the next few weeks from Runners Roost Fort Collins. If you are interested in official race apparel, Runners Roost also has a limited run of inventory available for sale at the store.
Previous course record holder, Paul Petersen, collects his age group award.
In addition to our awards winners, all finishers went home with a beautiful commemorative pint glass from New Belgium Brewing and a unique finisher’s medal.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out official race photos, please find them here:
- Erin Bibeau (Finish)
- Terry Grenwelge (Start, midrace, awards)
- Chuck Delano (Monster Mountain)
Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center volunteers work the Taft water station.
Full race results are available from the results page of the race website.
In closing, we’d like to thank all of our wonderful volunteers who helped out in many different capacities to help make the 2017 running of the race a success. Thank You! We’d also like to thank our five wonderful top-tier sponsors who have supported this year’s event with total enthusiasm.
Please visit our sponsor page to see the full list of business sponsors and non-profit volunteer organizations who helped make this year’s race a success.
 New Belgium Brewing |  Salomon Running |  Colorado in Motion |  DaVinci Sign Systems |  Raintree Athletic Club |
Planning has already begun for 2018, and we very much hope to see you back again in just under a year on April 15. Registration will open October 1. Until then, happy running!
Done did it.
Winners of the ‘stroller division’ Mike and Jamo Hinterberg in 1:29:07. A stroller course record? We think so.
Ron Michaels: DJ by night, pacer by day.
