Benjamin Hanson has been in Fort Collins for only about a year now, and he hadn’t spent much time in the Poudre Canyon before.
On Sunday morning, though, he got an up-close look at the lower portion of the scenic highway while running and winning the Colorado Marathon.
“It’s a beautiful course, unreal, by the river and everything,” Hanson said after crossing the finish line at Washington Park in downtown Fort Collins. “It’s a great course, great atmosphere. It was awesome. I love it.”
Hanson, 27, who moved to Colorado from Esko, Minnesota, was the first of about 800 runners in the marathon to reach the finish line, crossing in 2 hours, 34 minutes and 20.84 seconds. Runner-up George Rykovich, 22, also of Fort Collins, was four minutes back in 2:38:22.70, while third-place finisher Jeremy Bennett came across in 2:40:05.23.
Andi Almodovar, 21, a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy, was the women’s winner and No. 22 overall, finishing in 3:01:06.46 – more than 8½ minutes ahead of runner-up Maria McDaniel, 26, of Englewood, who crossed in 3:09:32.79. Colleen Noonan, 37, of Eldorado Springs was third in 3:12:77.85.
Complete race results are available at comarathon.com/results.
Read more at https://www.coloradoan.com