Weather in Colorado is an interesting thing. Saturday in Denver saw sunny skies with temperatures reaching 60 degrees. Most would hope that this would translate into good weather for Sunday’s Super Bowl 5K. Unfortunately, this was not the case as a cold front moved through overnight, dropping morning temperatures into the twenties. With snow flurries and 15 mile per hour winds, things had changed dramatically. However, this did not deter 250 people from coming to Washington Park to run the Super Bowl 5K, the second race of the RunDenver series presented by Colorado Runner.
The men’s event was dominated by Colorado Springs residents who made the 60-minute drive north, despite the weather. They took the top four places, including top master. 31-year-old Jason Hodgson ran a 30 minute tempo run before dominating the field in the race, cruising to a two minute win in 15:43. Cody Hill, owner of the Boulder Running Company in Colorado Springs, said afterwards that it was just too cold to try and stay with Jason, so he eased the pace and held on for second in 17:43. Chuck Schwartz was right on his tail in 17:54. Top master’s honors went to Lile Budden, who finished fourth overall in 18:26.
For the women, Rachel Luginbill of Denver grabbed the overall crown in 20:43. She was followed closely by Megan Sheehan of Denver in 20:54. Louisville’s Laura Tingle grabbed third place in 21:26. Top master’s finisher was Bridget Witsell of Centennial in 23:23.
One of the cool things about the RunDenver series is that the top five finishers with dogs win special prizes. First place honors again went to Colorado Runner’s top dog, Lucy, who pulled her owner through to a fifth place finish in 18:38.