The various annual Race for the Cure events draw millions of runners and walkers across the country. What the sister Tri for the Cure lacks in numbers, it makes up for in distance.
The annual women-only triathlon, now in its fourth year, will race through Cherry Creek State Park on Sunday, with 3,000 competitors swimming, biking and running the course’s approximately 15 total miles.
But this year’s race may be the most difficult yet. Temperatures are expected to near 100 degrees in the city Sunday, heat that would cause pause to even the hardy women who run the grueling Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii.
Last year’s Tri for the Cure was won by Evergreen’s Kathleen Allen. The 35-year-old finished the course in 1 hour, 6 minutes, 9 seconds — a race record. Allen’s time was more than a minute quicker than the previous record effort of Boulder’s Mary Beth Ellis, who clocked a time of 1:07:28 in 2005.
Ellis and 2006 winner Haley Beann combined to form a Boulder-area grip on the race, winning half the overall races.
But in a less-than-elite race, times aren’t of high importance. Since 2005, the race has helped raise more than $390,000 for the area affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. But competition isn’t absent. Teams made up of friends, training groups and like-minded athletes come together to pace each other.
Then there’s 55-year-old racer Nancy Reinisch, a coach for the Roaring Fork Women’s Triathlon Team who battled breast cancer, who last year said, “I’m convinced that without my team I wouldn’t be here today.”
Tri for the Cure
What: Women-only triathlon with 3,000 competitors.
When: Sunday. Where: At Cherry Creek State Park.
Legs: 750-meter swim, 18.3-kilometer bike, 5K run.
Benefits: Denver affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
AROUND TOWN
English invade with full force.
When Everton FC of the English Premier League hits town this weekend for an international friendly against the Rapids, the Toffees’ roster won’t be filled with reserve schlubs.
The Everton side facing the Rapids on Sunday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park should include Joleon Lescott, who anchors the team’s defense and scored 10 goals in leading the Toffees to a fifth-place finish in the EPL last season. American goalkeeper Tim Howard also should be in uniform for Everton. He and Lescott both played 90 minutes Wednesday in a 2-0 loss to the host Chicago Fire.
Used as a preseason tuneup for its upcoming season, Everton’s stateside trip is its fourth in the past five years.
The Rapids could also use a tuneup. They have just two victories in their past nine MLS games, a skid that has dropped them to sixth place in the seven- team Western Conference.
STAY ON THE COUCH
Room for one more Bronco.
Gary Zimmerman will double the number of Broncos in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday when he’s inducted at Canton, Ohio. He’ll be joined by Fred Dean, Darrell Green, Art Monk, Emmitt Thomas and Andre Tippett at the ceremony, which airs on ESPN starting at 4 p.m.
Expect plenty of emotion for the induction, but little Sunday for the Hall of Fame Game between Indianapolis and Washington. As the official start to the NFL preseason schedule, the game airs at 6 p.m. on KUSA-9.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Perfect day for a road race.
The 50-year-old Rocky Mountain Road Runners organization will host another in its year-long series of races today with the DeKoevend Park 5K in Littleton. The race, which starts at 6:30 p.m., should have all runners finishing at about the same time — perfect for postrace parties. DeKoevend is the eighth race on RMRR’s 12-race schedule, which runs through December. Check for more information.
WEEK IN PRAISE
Playing like an ace.
Carbondale’s Tristan Rohrbaugh, a 12-year-old caddie, came to Denver to work for his dad, Doug, during the Colorado Open. But even after Doug, the head pro at Ironbridge Golf Club, finished in the top 30 among pros at the Open, it was Tristan who finished the weekend on top.
Playing warm-up rounds with his dad, Tristan hit two holes-in-one last week, the first at Pradera Golf Club, with a 7-iron on the 120-yard No. 3. Then, two days later, he aced an 80-yard hole on the par-3 course at Green Valley Ranch with a pitching wedge. To top it off, Tristan on Tuesday caddied for PGA Tour pro Stewart Cink in Aspen.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Strong-arm tactics.
Like American thoroughbred racing, professional arm-wrestlers have a Triple Crown, this one made up of three national tournaments from May to August.
With the final leg Sunday — the U.S. Armwrestling Federation Unified National Championships in Salt Lake City — Greeley’s Brandy Stark is a tournament win away from becoming the first woman to win the arm-wrestling Triple Crown.
Stark already has victories at the USAA National Pro-Am at Lake Tahoe and the AAA Nationals in July at West Palm Beach, Fla. If Stark can pull off the three-peat this weekend, it could put her on track for a Team USA spot at the WAF World Championships in November at Kelowna, Canada.
