2017 | Horsetooth Half Marathon

Dear Horsetooth Half Marathon Participant:

Thank you for choosing to participate in the 44th running of the Horsetooth Half Marathon. This year we’ll be welcoming record numbers of runners to undertake the journey from Hughes Stadium to New Belgium Brewing, and we’re excited that you’ll be a part of that journey.

While all relevant race information is available on the race website, we’d like to draw your attention to a few important race details and to also highlight a few of our partners who are helping to make this year’s event one of the best yet. We’re especially thankful to our top-tier sponsors who have all become integral parts of the race planning and execution process.

New Belgium Brewing

Salomon Running

Colorado in Motion

DaVinci Sign Systems

Raintree Athletic Club

Packet Pickup

Pre-race packet pickup will be at Raintree Athletic Club (RAC) on Saturday April 22 from noon until 6:00pm. Please see below for a FREE three-day membership to RAC. Packets will also include a bath bomb for your post-race soak from Salus Bath & Body, and of course your bib and performance race t-shirt. Raintree is located on the NW corner of Drake and Shields at 2555 S. Shields St.

Runners Roost Fort Collins will have official Horsetooth Half branded performance running apparel (Salomon) for sale at packet pickup. Additional runing gear and fuel will be available at packet pickup from both Runners Roost and Altitude Running.

In order to avoid lines on race morning, we encourage you to pick up your packets on Saturday. If you are not able to make it to Saturday’s packet pickup, then we will also be offering race morning packet pickup from 7:00 – 8:15 inside the main south gate of Hughes Stadium off Dixon Canyon Road.

*Please look up your bib number HERE*

** We have a very limited number of entries left. If you have friends of family interested in running, we suggest they register by Friday.

Race Start, Parking and Busing

The race will begin at 8:30am on County Road 42C adjacent to the southwest gate of Hughes Stadium, directly under Dixon Canyon Dam. Parking will be at the Holiday Twin Drive In. All Drive-In parking wll be from the south, off Overland Trail Rd. (right turn only). We expect parking to be tight, so please carpool with friends or get dropped off if you can.

Runner drop-off will be inside the main south gate of Hughes Stadium. Drop-off will be ‘airport style’ so please be ready to ‘de-car’ once you arrive so we can get cars in and out efficiently.

The Drive In is located 3/4 of a mile east of the race start. Race morning registration, port-a-johns and packet pickup will be inside the main south gate of Hughes Stadium off Dixon Canyon Road, a half mile from the Twin Drive-In parking on the way to the race start. Please plan accordingly in terms of the time you’ll need to get from car to packets to start. We advise getting to the Drive-In no later than 7:30 for the 8:30 start.

If you need clothing or other gear transported to the finish, a bag drop will be available on race morning near the packet pickup and registration location. A tag from your race bib must be pinned to your bag prior to dropping off (we will not be providing bags). You will need to show your race bib to collect your bag at the finish. While we will make every effort possible to make sure all bags are reunited with their owners, we strongly recommend that you not pack valuables in your gear bag.

Free busing will be available from the finish at New Belgium back to the start at Hughes Stadium. Buses will be running from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

New Belgium Post Race Party

The famed Horsetooth Half Marathon post race party will take place on the grounds of New Belgium Brewing. All race participants are welcome to enjoy free beer from New Belgium, in addition to a hearty and healthy soup from Boulder Organic with wheat rolls from the Great Harvest Bread Company. We will also have fruit available courtesy of Trader Joe’s. If you’ve got room for more, then try a delicious cookie from Mary’s Mountain Cookies (Old Town). Non-alcoholic beverages will be available from Ripple, Morning Fresh and Eldorado Spring Water.

Beers will be served only to those who have shown proof of age and are wearing an over-21 wristband. This can be taken care of at packet pickup on Saturday (wristband must be attached then) or at the entrance to the beer garden after the race.

Wristbands will also be available to friends and family for a suggested donation of $10. All proceeds will be donated to the Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center.

With your race run, and food and beverages in hand, please sit back in the beer garden or picnic area and enjoy live music from local blues fusion band Musketeer Gripweed. Or peruse the post-race expo booths and enjoy samples from vendors or a complimentary massage from our volunteer masseuses.

Food for family and friends will be avilable from food trucks. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the live music and vendor expo.

On-Course Entertainment

Weather permitting, we will have on course music at three separate locations courtesy of the Blevins Middle School Jazz Ensemble, the African Drum Collective of Fort Collins, and the Poudre High School Drum Line.

Pace Groups

If you’re looking to hit a specific finish time, we have a team of pacers lined up to help you get there. If you have questions related to pacing, then be sure to stop by the pace group table at packet pickup on Saturday. We’ll have pace leaders for the following goal times: 1:30, 1:45, 2:00, 2:15, 2:30. Given the hilly nature of the course, mile splits will not be even. We will have suggested mile-for-mile pacing charts available at packet pickup.

Aid Stations

Vfuel sports drink and water will be available at all five aid stations. There will also be a port-a-john at each aid station, in addition to a first aid kit. Additional medical coverage will be provided by Poudre Valley Hospital EMS. Aid stations will be spaced out and staffed as follows:

Mile 2.8 Sponsored by Altitude Running and benefitting Athletes in Tandem.
Mile 4.8 Sponsored by Rodelle benefiting Project Self Sufficiency
Mile 8.5 Sponsored by Justin Liddle DMD and benefiting the Blevins Middle School Cross Country Team.
Mile 10.3 Sponsored by Salus Bath and Body and benefiting Teaching Tree.
Mile 12.1 Sponsored by Countryside Animal Hospital and benefiting the Fort Collins Cat Rescue.
Finish Line Food Sponsored by Hensel Phelps and benefiting Larimer County Food Bank

Additional Information

Be sure to read through the race website for additional race details, instructions, rules, and directions.

See you Sunday April 23!

Thank you,
Nick Clark and Pete Stevenson, Gnar Runners LLC

Paul Petersen on his way to a second Horsetooth Half Marathon win in 2015.

We’ve got a strong elite field lining up for the race this Sunday. They’ll all be vying for a piece of this year’s $4,000 prize purse.

Tyler McCandless will be among the favorites this Sunday for the 44th running of the Horsetooth Half Marathon

We have two returning champions in the men’s field this Sunday. Local favorite, Paul Petersen set the current course record (1:10:32) in 2013 and won again in 2015. Mark Charles (aka Horsecow Lonac) was the 2009 champion and will also be lining up on Sunday. Lonac is the XC coach at Blevins Middle School and will be cheered on by his team who will be working the 8.5 mile water station.

Pushing our two previous champions will be Tyler McCandless, a Boulder pro who holds a 1:03:14 half marathon PR and is coming off an impressive 48:30 finish at the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in D.C. earlier this month. Tyler will be joined among the favorites by Gebre Abadi, winner of last year’s Denver Half Marathon and claimant to a 2:12:38 marathon PR. Also among the favorites is assistant CSU track and XC country coach, Scott Dahlberg who has recently stepped up in distance, clocking a 1:06 half in San Antonio in December.

Other runners with elite bibs that we expect to be pushing the pace up front include local standout and 2016 podium finisher James Vance; Mississippi State standout and volunteer coach for the CSU XC team, Andrew Monaghan; and last year’s King of the Mountain Ben Wheatley.

Gebre Abadi winning the 2016 Denver Half Marathon. He will be among the favorites at the 2017 Horsetooth Half Marathon.

Can Ben Wheatley (white singlet) defend his King of the Mountain crown at the 2017 Horsetooth Half Marathon? $100 says he can.

In the Women’s field, three time winner, course record holder, and defending champion (yes, overall champion), Brianne Nelson will not be toeing the line this Sunday, which leaves the Horsetooth Half Marathon women’s race wide open for 2017. Among the favorites will be 2015 champion Kara Henry Mills who’ll be racing Horsetooth as one of her first races back after a long injury lay-off. In 2015 she won the race in a time of 1:24:29.

Kara Henry Mills at mile 10 of the 2015 Horsetooth Half Marathon on her way to breaking the winner’s tape.

Last year’s runner up Heather Utrata will be back on the starting line this Sunday, and she’ll be looking to go one better than in 2016 when she finished in 1:26:16. Heather is coming off a recent win at the Spring Equinox Half Marathon here in Fort Collins.

Heather Utrata was second last year’s Horsetooth Half Marathon. Can she go one better on Sunday?

Local favorite AnnMarie Kirkpatrick finished fourth in last year’s race and appears to be in good form, having just run a 2:55 for an eighth place finish at last month’s LA Marathon, which surely puts her in podium contention.

AnnMarie Kirkpatrick prepping for her recent 8th place finish at the LA Marathon. She’ll be among the favorites this Sunday at the Horsetooth Half Marathon

Arizona Wildcat alum, Maggie Callahan has a half marathon PR from early 2016 of 1:16:57 and will certainly be among the favorites for the win this weekend. Second to Utrata last month at the Spring Equinox Half, Becky Lynn will be looking to make some noise on Sunday, as will 2013 second place finisher Sarah Jo Omann and multi-time top-five finisher Jennifer Malmberg.

Sarah Jo Omann has raced the Horsetooth Half Marathon many times, finishing as high as second (2013). She’ll be among the favorites on Sunday. Here she is on top of the race’s namesake mountain.

Given the ideal weather forecast for fast times, we’re predicting some pretty strong pressure to be put on Petersen’s 2013 course record this Sunday. It should be an exciting race in both the men’s and women’s fields. Click here for info on prime viewing spots along the course.

Tag Archives: 2017

2017 Horsetooth Half Marathon – Pre-race Details