The Amazing Race on Sept. 10 was gifted outstanding weather - a wonderful start to this 5-mile trail race and 5K racewalk at Matthews/Winters Park in Golden. We had 39 runners and 11 racewalkers - pretty good numbers considering the many other races that were underway the same day (RMRR, Black Squirrel, SMA, and something in Arvada). Our racewalking numbers were outstanding! Thank you to the several families and my friends who joined us. All who turned out helped give the race a "community" feel.

JeffCo Open Space opened a new, dreamy segment of the Red Rocks Trail a few weeks before our race and allowed the club to re-route our race along its sweet, freshly groomed switchbacks. This extended the race by half a mile, so instead of the planned 4.5-mile course, we ran a 5-miler! A lot of runners and racewalkers told me they loved this new section of trail.

I moved the race finish to a gravel trail that winds behind the toilets area, which turned out to be a great idea (credit for this idea goes to club member Siri Lewis). After finishing, the trail directed racers to continue walking - a good warm down - and when they reached the parking lot at its end, every participant was handed a Vitamin Cottage gift bag full of donated goodies, courtesy of club member Jeff Hesse. (Thanks, Jeff!)

Bobo's Oat Bars donated two flavors of Bobo's Bites to our race and 20 coupons for FREE Bobo's that I handed out to those who stayed throughout the awards and door prizes. Bobo's is made with love in Boulder, and the bites are portable fuel for the trail. If you'd like to try them, let me know. I'll hook you up.

One of my goals was to have a door prize for EVERY PERSON involved in The Amazing Race. Success! We even had a few door prizes left over (that I donated to the Oct. 8 Stone House race).

Thank you to these generous local businesses for supplying the club with fantastic door prizes: Calm Spirit Acupuncture (Arvada and Golden); Mountain Toad Brewing, Cannonball Creek Brewery, Barrels & Bottles, and Runners High (Golden). Thank you also to club member Francie Kinney, who donated a beautiful Arbonne Gift Basket, making one runner gal very happy.

More thank-you shout outs:

• Thank you to club President Kevin Snyder for helping me mark the trail the night before our race until it was nearly pitch dark. We apparently did a good job; runners told me the trail was well marked.
• Thank you to Christine Rodriguez and Julie Carroll for stepping up when I needed an assistant race director -- I got two! Julie bought and prepared our race food - all that good fruit and Fig Newtons -- and Christine oversaw our water-aid station. They both arrived by 7:00 a.m. to help set up the race. Gals, your help was critical for the success of this race.
• Thank you to Jeff Hesse for showing up at the park before 7:00 a.m., bringing me an egg-bagel sandwich and making me eat it. Jeff brought the aforementioned goodies and helped with race set up. You were such a huge help!
• Thank you to Pat Jones and DeNae VanWestrienen for handling our registration. Pat was on site when I showed up, ready to get folks registered from the back of her VW. DeNae showed up with her tribe ready to work then she and her four kids, including a 3-year-old, racewalked the entire 5K. Impressive.
• Thank you to Matt and Kelly Barnes, who brought their two kids, Kelly's mom and their worktable to the race. Matt worked on 15 to 20 participants (after running the race!). That's exhausting. Please visit Barnes Chiropractic for your chiropractic needs. They're outstanding healers of the hurts that ail athletes. http://barneschirocolorado.com
• Thank you to my husband, Jim Clarke, and to Christine Rodriguez and her boyfriend, George, for working the hike-in water station (runners truly appreciated and needed that).
• Thank you to the finish line fellas - Joe Baird, Rob Fisher, Ken Simons, Ken Randall and Larry Schmidt -- for whose work we are truly indebted. We don't do races without the timers and finish line folks.
• A shout out and big thank you to Laura Luhn, who is new to the club but stepped up when I needed a course sweeper. She cleaned the course of markers and signs, then said she had fun!
• Thank you to everyone who took photos on the trail and posted them to the club's Facebook page. Wow. We got some great pictures of this one. Great memories.

That's a look at how much volunteer work goes into one little race. A CMRA race is only as good as its volunteers who show up. Thank you, volunteers!

Thank you to everyone who chose to attend The Amazing Race at Matthews/Winters Park in Golden. You made the work worth doing. We shared a wonderful morning!