Saundra Robinson was not the fastest runner among the 5,000 or so who competed Sunday in the inaugural Colorado Colfax Marathon.
Really, she wasn’t even close.
But while some ran Sunday for glory and many others ran for fun and friendship, Robinson ran for a different reason, neatly summed up in the neon-green poster-board sign her husband, Marcus, waved at intervals throughout the race.
“She has breast cancer and a broken toe … and she’s still going to run her 11th marathon,” it read.
When her doctor diagnosed Robinson with cancer recently, her husband said the first thing she asked was if she could run in the marathon. On Mother’s Day, when she tripped on some stairs while carrying her grandson and broke the pinky toe on her right foot, there was never a question that Robinson would still run.
“I think she feels she needs to do this to get herself prepared,” Marcus Robinson said during the race.
Saundra Robinson, 51, will undergo surgery for her cancer Thursday.
And so Sunday morning as the sun rose, she gathered with hundreds of others at the Aurora Sports Park, where the full marathon started. Runners bounced anxiously on their toes; others stretched meticulously. The air smelled of sunscreen and sports balm.
“With a broken toe, I’m hoping for anything under 6 hours,” Robinson said of her time. “I’ll be right in front of the street sweeper.”
Nearly 1,000 people signed up to run the full marathon, organizers said. Another 1,900 ran as part of relay teams, and more than 2,100 people ran the half-marathon, which started at Denver City Park.
The race proceeded along a 26.2-mile course along Colfax Avenue that took brief detours into the Fitzsimons medical campus and Denver City Park. It began flat but ended with a sizable hill leading to the parking lot of the Colorado Mills shopping center.
Organizers reported no major problems or injuries. Three people were taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons, said Bruce Evans, the marathon’s medical director.
There were also races within the race, like the Municipal Cup, which pitted city employees from around the metro area against one another for hometown honors. A team of Aurora firefighters took the cup, then promptly had to return to work.
“We were given four hours off this morning so we could do the marathon,” team member Tony Tousley said. “We had to be fast.”
Marcus Robinson jumped from point to point along the route, each time waving the bright- green sign and urging Saundra forward. But, as the race neared the end, street closures prevented him from getting near the route. When he found a spot again, about a quarter mile from the finish, he hadn’t seen his wife for more than an hour.
The race clock ticked by.
5:00.
5:15.
The course was sparse; most of the runners had finished. The sun began to punish, as the temperature crested 80 degrees.
5:30.
“Come on, Saundra,” he almost whispered. “Come on, girl.”
5:45.
And then, “There she is,” Marcus blurted in relief, bending his neck to see a figure shuffle-running up the hill. “Yep, she’s got the red hat on.”
He walked into the middle of the course, unfurled the sign and held it over his head, cheering her on as he walked toward her. When they met, Marcus turned and ran alongside her.
They ran down a straightaway and rounded the last corner, and then Marcus moved to the side to let his wife cross the line by herself.
She stopped within five steps, bent forward at the waist, put her head in her hands and cried.
Race volunteers wrapped Saundra in a thin space blanket. Marcus came up and hugged her. Others, strangers, did too.
“I feel like I can do anything,” she said later. “It feels great. It feels great.”
Saundra Robinson’s time was 5 hours and 50 minutes.
The street sweeper was still more than a half hour away.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
5,081
Runners participating in Sunday’s Colorado Colfax Marathon, including 385 relay teams of five runners each, 2,189 runners in the half-marathon starting at Denver City Park and 967 in the full marathon starting at the Aurora Sports Park
95
People receiving first-aid treatment at some point along the course or at the finish
3
Runners taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons
1,600
Approximate number of volunteers
30,000
Estimated crowd watching the race
4:30
Time, in hours and minutes, that portions of westbound Colfax Avenue were closed during the marathon; traffic reopened in Aurora at 8:30 a.m., in Denver at 11 a.m. and in Lakewood at 12:30 p.m.
Source: Colorado Colfax Marathon organizers
