Record Breaking Year at the Denver Colfax Marathon Weekend

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Denver welcomed over 25,000 runners to the Mile High for the city’s largest running event of the year. The 19th Denver Colfax Marathon, presented by Cigna Healthcare, hosted eight races over the weekend with several event records broken. Athletes from around the world and all 50 states competed in the event, but Colorado runners swept the podium on race day.

The race’s new ‘Colorado Half Marathon Showdown’ welcomed an elite field of local Coloradoans vying for prize money in this high-altitude race. The top five runners in the men’s division were all under the previous half marathon record by more than a minute. Coming in first was Emad Bashir-Mohammed of Aurora, Colorado, beating his own record that he set in this very race last year. He finished the race on Sunday with a time of 1:03:05, just 15 seconds shy of breaking the state record.

Bashir-Mohammed is a refugee from Sudan who came to America eleven years ago and has since become a US citizen, training and living in the Denver area. He crossed the showdown finish line stating, “This is my turf!”. Bashir-Mohammed went home with $6280: $5280 for winning the half marathon and another $1000 for breaking the event record.

This brand-new elite competition had a prize purse of close to $25,000 to celebrate athletes training and living in Colorado. The top four local runners in the male and female categories were awarded. Local Coloradoan Ednah Kurgat, US Army WCAP in Colorado Springs, was the half marathon winner in the women’s division and took home a mile high check of $5280.

Three runners also set a new half marathon state record on Sunday in their age group. Tyler McCandless, Lawrence Kipkoech and Emad Bashir-Mohammed earned the fastest times in their age group on a USATF certified course in Colorado.

Marathon Relay records in several divisions were also broken over the weekend, including the Overall Men’s Relay, which broke an 18-year record, and the Overall Coed Relay. The Denver Colfax Marathon relay has 4 divisions (open, corporate, government, public school) and is now the largest marathon relay in the country.

“I wish you could feel the energy that we experienced throughout this race weekend,” said Andrea Dowdy, CEO of the Denver Colfax Marathon. “From our elite runner field and the thousands of spectators supporting with motivational signs, to the family and friends that witnessed goals being accomplished, this race celebrates our entire Colorado community. We are so proud to keep this special tradition going year after year.”

In its fourth year as the title sponsor of the race, Cigna Healthcare’s mission of keeping health and wellness in focus supports not only the runners but the entire Denver community.

“We are amazed and appreciative of the Denver community and Colfax Marathon team for putting on such an impactful event, promoting health and vitality,” said Brett Winingham, general manager and market growth leader for Cigna Mountain States. “Cigna Healthcare is proud to be the presenting sponsor.”

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