2009 Winter Series

Registration Options

Walk-In (Entry form available in Dec '08)

Boulder Running Company
3659 Austin Bluffs Parkway

Colorado Running Company
833 North Tejon

Runners Roost
107 East Bijou

On-Line:

Links available in Dec '08

Mail In:

Entry form available in Dec '08,
print, fill out & mail to:
PPRR
c/o Pat Lockhart
1405 Vondelpark Dr
Colorado Springs, CO 80907

Race Day Registration:

Yes, 9:00 am

Entry Fees:

PPRR/SCR/Military/YMCA:

TBD

NON-PPRR/SCR/Military/YMCA:

TBD

High School Challenge:

TBD

Senior Challenge (65 yr and up):

TBD

On-Line (extra fee from active.com)

PPRR/SCR/Military/YMCA:

TBD

NON-PPRR/SCR/Military/YMCA:

TBD

High School Challenge:

TBD

Senior Challenge (65 yr and up):

TBD

Complementary Entries

The race director extends complementary entries to all the hero challenge runners.  A hero challenge runner is someone who is a member of an area police or fire department.  Please contact the race director for your comp entry.

Team Competition

Team competition is for the short series only.

Minimum 3 person teams. (3 used for scoring).  Teams may be all male, all female, or coed.  If coed, the 1st male and female finishers on each team are used for scoring, then the faster of the 2nd male/female on the team is used.  Scoring is by cumulative time.

Team categories are:

High School Boys
High School Girls
High School Coed
Hero Challenge Men
Hero Challenge Women
Hero Challenge Coed
Open/Corporate Men
Open/Corporate Women
Open/Corporate Coed

High school coaches are allowed, and encouraged, to compete on the same team with their high school runners.

The Hero Challenge is for members of area police and fire departments.

Clydesdale / Athena Competition

Clydesdale is for men who are 185 pounds or more.  Athena is for women who are 150 pounds or more.  Awards are given to the top 3 clydesdale/athena runners who finish the entire series, for both the short series and the long series.

Awards

Awards are for series finishers only, meaning those who finish all four short series races, or all four long series races.  There are no awards for the individual races.

These awards are for both the short series and the long series, with the exception of teams, which only applies to the short series.

Top 1 Overall Male
Top 1 Overall Female
Top 3 Clydesdale
Top 3 Athena
Top 3 in 5-year Age Group (male/female)
Top 1 Team in each category (9 categories)

The awards are distributed at the Awards Dinner, which occurs at the downtown YMCA one week after the last race.

Event History

This event started in 1979 under the name Black Forest Series.  At that time, all four races were held in the Black Forest area, just extending the lengths of the loops to add on extra distance for each race.  Old timers have stories of running though some pretty tough snowstorms with whiteout conditions during some of the races in the early years.

As the races grew, local residents of the Black Forest started to object to having their roads overrun with runners for four Saturdays each winter.  This is when the race venues were changed to use four different race venues, and use the Black Forest venue for the last race only.  At some point, the name of the series changed from the Black Forest Series to the Winter Series.

Since the format changed to four different venues, the first race has always been held at Fox Run Regional Park.  The second race was held at Fort Carson for several years, using trails around the golf course.  When access to military installations was tightened, the venue for the second race was changed to El Pomar Youth Sports Park, it's current location.  The third race was started on the Sante Fe Trail at Baptist Road, with the long course heading south onto USAFA property, and the short course heading north.  The third race has also been staged from the Shepards/McGraw building along Hwy-83 and used the USAFA trails for a couple of years.  Again, when access to the military installations tightened, the third race was staged out of Sante Fe Trail at Baptist Road and all courses headed north, thus not using any USAFA trails.  Black Forest has always been the venue for the fourth race.

The Winter Series did take one year off during that transition from staging all races at Black Forest to the current 4-venue staging setup.

Pat Lockhart has been the race director for years and years and years.  She has never been shy about trying new things.  Instead of the typical cotton t-shirt for runners, she has given out blankets, back packs, duffle bags, head bands, sweat shirts, jackets, and other things.  She also instituted the team competition, and encouraged the high school runners to come out and join us.  The Hero Challenge and Senior recognition are also Pat's idea.

Thank you so much, Pat!

The Winter Series is a series of four races in four different city and county locations.  The courses are mostly run on well-groomed dirt trails. The Black Forest courses are run on dirt and paved country roads. 

This is a progressive series, meaning each run is longer than the previous one.  Each race consists of a short race and a long race.  The distances for the short race series are 5K, 4M, 5M, 10K.  The distances for the long race series are 10K, 8M, 10M, 20K. The series scoring is based on cumulative time of all 4 races.

If you run all four races, you will be eligible for age group and overall awards.  Note: You must run all four short series races, or all four long series races to be eligible for awards.

Note: Permits for Fox Run Regional Park and Sante Fe Trail are issued by the El Paso County Parks & Leisure Services

Race 1 - Fox Run Regional Park
Course Map / Directions

This course is run on dirt trails through the woods.  It's a loop course.  5K runners do the loop once, and 10K runners do the loop twice.  There are rolling hills.  Most of the course is shaded, thus the trails can be icy from snowstorms that occurred earlier in the winter/fall.  The snow gets packed down by trail users, and then turns into ice.  So watch out for slipping and sliding.

Snow-covered trails at Fox Run Regional Park.

Race 2 - El Pomar Youth Sports Park
Course Map / Directions

Different Course being used in 2008.  See Description here.

This is an out-and-back course on the Fountain Creek Regional Trail.  The trail is a combination of packed dirt and pavement.  The trail runs parallel to Fountain Creek.  The out portion heads south, going downstream.  The back section heads north, going upstream.  Other than the very gentle downslope on the way out and very gentle upslope on the way back, there are not any hills to speak of on this course.  The trail is typically free of any snow or ice.

Julie Foster is all smiles
on the Fountain Creek Regional Trail at El Pomar Youth Sports Park

Race 3 - Santa Fe Trail @ Baptist Road
Course Map / Directions

This is another out-and-back course on the Sante Fe Trail, which is a packed dirt trail.  The out section heads north going slightly uphill.  The back section heads south, going slightly downhill.  There is nothing to block the wind, so if it's a windy day, you'll need to deal with that.  The trail is sometimes snow-covered, depending on how recent the latest snowstorm occurred.

History of the Winter Series III Course
(article written by Jack Anthony)

Start of Race 3 at Sante Fe Trail / Baptist Road

Race 4 - Black Forest
Course Map 10K, 20K / Directions

This course runs through the neighborhoods in the Black Forest area.  This is mostly dirt roads, but there are a few sections on paved roads.  There are rolling hills.  The 10K course is mostly in the wooded area and protected from most of the cold winter winds.  On the 20K course, the last few miles are out in the open and the wind can be bothersome.  There are some spectacular views of Pikes Peak and the Front Range mountains, especially from the 20K course.  The course is open to vehicle traffic, which is light in nature, but leave the music at home so you can hear the approaching cars.

Hittin' the roads in Black Forest

Results

2008
     Series: Short, Long - 250 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 484 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 502 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - 439 finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 413 finishers

2007
     Series: Short, Long - 239 finishers
     Race 1: canceled due to inaccessibility
                   to staging area
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 319 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 7M - 320 finishers
     Race 4: canceled due to blizzard conditions

2006
     Series: Short, Long - 191 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 377 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 361 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - 321 finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 306 finishers

2005
     Series: Short, Long - 173 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 279 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 287 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - 283 finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 270 finishers

2004
     Series: Short, Long - 182 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 324 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 325 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - 293 finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 264 finishers

2003
     Series: Short, Long - 163 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 285 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 269 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - 246 finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 257 finishers

2002
     Series: Short, Long - 184 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 320 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 304 finishers
     Race 3: cancelled due to weather
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 274 finishers

2001
     Series: Short, Long - 111 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 222 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 239 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - 189 finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 187 finishers

2000
     Series: Short, Long - 136 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 248 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 252 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - 233 finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 230 finishers

1999
     Series: Short, Long - 130 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 224 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 214 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - 203 finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 206 finishers

1998
     Series: Short, Long - ??? finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 229 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - 222 finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - 223 finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - 200 finishers

1997
     Series: Short, Long - 116 finishers
     Race 1: 5K, 10K - 194 finishers
     Race 2: 4M, 8M - ??? finishers
     Race 3: 5M, 10M - ??? finishers
     Race 4: 10K, 20K - ??? finishers