Dear Friends,
On behalf of the Denver Marathon Organizing Committee and all of our sponsors, media partners and other supporters, we welcome you to the first running of the 2006 world-class Denver Marathon™. This year marks history with the debut of this inaugural event in the Mile High City on Sunday, October 15, 2006.
An estimated 5,000 runners will take to the streets of Denver in the marathon, half marathon, four-person marathon relay and the McDonald’s Mile Kid’s Race. The inaugural race has attracted runners from around the world, including 13 countries and 43 states within the continental United States. More than 600 volunteers will join together to help make the event a great success over the course of race weekend.
We are proud to welcome international and world renowned elite athletes including local Coloradan Alan Culpepper, who is ranked the #2 marathoner in the U.S. by Track & Field News. Alan will be running the half-marathon. We also would like to welcome Kenyan Mike Korir, who was the Philadelphia Marathon champion in 2002 and 2004, and Franklin Tenorio from Ecuador, who is a two-time Olympian and 1999 bronze medalist at the Pan American Games.
The Denver Marathon began with a vision to develop an annual world-class destination marathon, half marathon, and marathon relay that will not only showcase the great Mile High City, but also bring positive economic and social impact to the City of Denver. For this reason, we applaud the over 100 participants in this year’s Denver Marathon who have chosen to run on behalf of one of our charitable organizations by raising more than $150,000 collectively.
We are also thrilled to join the race against homelessness through our partnership with Denver’s Road Home – Mayor John W. Hickenlooper’s 10-year plan to end homelessness in Denver. Corporations, businesses, and non-profits have entered four-person teams to run in the Denver Marathon Corporate Relay to benefit Denver’s Road Home and we thank these companies for their dedication towards this important cause.
Please join us in thanking and supporting all of our sponsors that have made this event possible. We also owe a great debt of appreciation to Mayor John W. Hickenlooper and the City of Denver. The dedication, cooperation, and passion of these public officials have been tremendous. We also want to express our appreciation to all of our volunteers and to the thousands of anticipated spectators who have helped make this a community event by volunteering their time or showing their support for the runners from the side of the road.
Finally, words cannot express our gratitude to all of our athletes for supporting this inaugural event. We are honored to bring a world-class marathon and running experience to Denver and are delighted that you have made a commitment to join us!
Enjoy the race,
Anton Villatoro
Executive Director
Dave McGillivray
Race Director