Race Directors:
John Gardner,
Michael Shafai
Please note start time
changes of short and long races in 2013. The Long race starts first.
Registration Options
Walk-In
(Entry Form)
Boulder Running Company 3659 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Colorado Running Company 833 North Tejon
&
N Union & Briargate Pkwy
Runners Roost 121
North Tejon
On-Line:
Online Entry
Please
register online, or at least before race morning of Race 1.
There is a $10 series discount for registering online, and the
club is absorbing the active.com fees for online registration.
Mail In:
download entry form
, print, fill out
& mail to:
The Pikes Peak Group c/o PPRR- John Gardner
121 S Tejon
St, Suite 700 Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Please note start
time changes of short and long races in 2013. The Long race
starts first.
Race Day Registration:
Yes, 9:00 am, but please
register before race day. Dealing with a large number of
race day registrations drives our volunteers nuts. In
short, be considerate of our volunteers. Without them,
this event would not exist. As with all PPRR events, this
event is a 100% volunteer organized event.
Entry Fees:
Please register
online, or at least before race morning of Race 1. There is a
$10 series discount for registering online, and the club is absorbing
the active.com fees for online registration.
PPRR/SCR/YMCA:
Four Race Series (with swag)
- $50 Four Race Series (without swag) - $30 Single Race (without
swag) - $8
NON-PPRR/SCR/YMCA:
Four Race Series (with swag)
- $65 Four Race Series (without swag) - $45 Single
Race (without swag) - $12
High School Challenge:
Four Race Series (with swag)
- $45 Four Race Series (without swag) - $25
Senior Challenge (65 yr and
up):
Four Race Series (with swag)
- $45 Four Race Series (without swag) - $25 Single Race
(without swag) - $6
Active Duty Police, Fire or
Military
Four Race Series (with swag)
- $20 Four Race Series (without swag) - FREE Single Race (without
swag) - FREE
Tax Deductible Donation
Suggested and appreciated
donation to help maintain El Paso County Parks - $5
Please note start
time changes of short and long races in 2013. The Long race starts
first.
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.
Please note start
time changes of short and long races in 2013. The Long race starts
first.
Clydesdale / Athena Competition
Clydesdale is for men who are 190 pounds or
more. Athena is for women who are 160 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.
Please note start
time changes of short and long races in 2013. The Long race starts
first.
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 had always been held at Fox Run Regional Park.
Because the Fox Run race had to be canceled due to
trail conditions in both 2007 & 2009, the organizers decided to move
it to the newly renovated Cheyenne Mountain State Park in 2010.
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 Santa 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 Santa 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 the
transition from staging all races at Black Forest to the current
4-venue staging setup.
Pat Lockhart was the race director for years
and years and years and finally turned over the
reins to Mike Shafai and John Gardner in 2009.
Pat had 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
were also Pat's
idea. Mike and John have continued on in
Pat's tradition, and Pat still volunteers for the series.
Thank you so much for all your
years of service, Pat!
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Please note start time changes of
short and long races in 2013. The Long race starts first.
General Info
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 3.3M, 4M, 5M, 10K. The distances for
the long race series are 7M, 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.
Please, no dogs or baby strollers
allowed on the course. Please do not trespass onto private
property. Per PPRR race rules, headphones, i-pods, or MP3
players may not be used during the race.
Please
note start time changes of short and long races in 2013. The Long
race starts first.
Course Information
Race 1 -
Cheyenne Mountain State
Park
Course Map:
Short,
Long /
Directions
Approximate course distances are
3.3M for the short course and 7M for the long course.
The courses start out on paved
roads, but quickly get on the trails in the park. Depending on
winter storms prior to race day, the trails can be snow or ice covered.
The long course has some tough hills.
Race 2 - El Pomar Youth Sports
Park
Course Map /
Directions
This is an out-and-back course on the
Pikes Peak Greenway Trail. The trail is
mostly pavement. The trail runs parallel to Fountain Creek. The
out portion heads north, going
upstream. The back section
heads south, going downstream. Other than the very gentle
upslope on the way out and very gentle
downslope on the way back, there are
few 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 Santa 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 Santa 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
2013
Series:
Short,
Long -
339
finishers
Race 1:
3.3M,
7M -
599
finishers
Race 2:
4M,
8M -
648
finishers
Race 3:
5M,
10M -
585
finishers
Race 4:
10K,
20K -
504
finishers
2012
Series:
Short,
Long -
313
finishers
Race 1:
3.3M,
7M -
718
finishers
Race 2:
4M,
8M -
756
finishers
Race 3:
5M,
10M -
473
finishers
Race 4:
10K,
20K -
588
finishers
2011
Series:
Short,
Long -
349 finishers
Race 1:
3.3M,
7M -
688 finishers
Race 2:
4M,
8M -
714
finishers
Race 3:
5M,
10M -
616
finishers
Race 4:
10K,
20K -
595
finishers
2010
Series:
Short,
Long -
298
finishers
Race 1:
5K,
10K+ -
615
finishers
Race 2:
4M,
8M -
631
finishers
Race 3:
5M,
10M -
533
finishers
Race 4:
10K,
20K -
475
finishers
2009
Series:
Short,
Long -
306 finishers
Race 1: Canceled
due to bad trail conditions.
See info here.
Race 2:
4M,
8M -
569
finishers
Race 3:
5M,
10M -
448
finishers
Race 4:
10K,
20K -
449
finishers
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
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