Denver metro area runners navigate postponements, crowded trails amid COVID-19

Casey Van Divier
cvandivier@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Posted 4/22/20

In March, Lakewood High School cross-country and track coach Bryn Smetana was four months into training for her first Boston Marathon. She was following a training schedule planned out to the day and …

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Denver metro area runners navigate postponements, crowded trails amid COVID-19

Posted

In March, Lakewood High School cross-country and track coach Bryn Smetana was four months into training for her first Boston Marathon. She was following a training schedule planned out to the day and the mile, preparing for a race about a month away, when an announcement threw a wrench into her plans: Following the lead of numerous athletic events worldwide, the marathon would be postponed for five months.

“I was doing my longest runs and running every day, and now I have to in a sense start over,” Smetana said. “I recreated my entire plan.”

With the marathon rescheduled from April 20 to Sept. 14, Smetana’s focus has shifted from pushing herself to the limit to simply maintaining her fitness levels. And among fellow Colorado runners also waiting out the five-month marathon delay and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many have taken the same approach.

The Boston Marathon brings more than 30,000 runners from across the world to Boston each spring. This year, more than 300 individuals from the Denver area have plans to run the race, with entrants making a series of unexpected adjustments to ensure they can stay committed to an event that is now months away — and stay fit in a time when training requires more precautions than ever before.

Those precautions span the physical, such as learning to run with a mask on, to the social, as distancing guidelines require residents to stay at least six feet apart.

Focus on safety

Arvada resident Brad Lindeberg said he often has run with groups like the Arvada Runners club, but since the pandemic hit, the group has canceled its weekly group runs, staying in touch over social media instead. Thornton resident Veronica Reish said that while she used to complete longer training runs while her father biked beside her, she since has transitioned to running alone.

But even despite a commitment to running without training partners, social distancing can prove difficult along the Denver area’s crowded trail system, the runners said.

“I’ve done a couple of very early morning runs, but I’m trying to not go out because there are more people on the trails,” Reish said. “I’ve had to step back a little bit and do a lot more running on the treadmill at home.”

Others, like Rich Airey, a Denver resident and running coach, have turned to running on the streets to avoid crowded parks and trails.

“There’s hardly any traffic. I’m trying to run every street (in the city),” Airey said. “I started off with a square-mile perimeter of my house and I’m going from there. I check off the streets as I go.”

Another common challenge for local runners has been figuring out exactly how much to run, as they balance unusual amounts of free time with the fact that races won’t resume until the fall.

As a coach, Airey said he has seen two common trends among Colorado runners.

“Either people are completely losing all of their motivation and doing nothing, or they’re thinking, ‘I need to take advantage of this and do more,’” he said. “My advice would be just to continue what you’ve been doing and, if anything, do a little bit less.”

Lindeberg agreed, saying members of the running community have been encouraging one another not to push themselves too hard.

“When you train really hard, you compromise your immune system. Now, it’s more of a focus on running for enjoyment and not doing as many miles,” he said. “We’ve collectively said, let’s just get our base mileage in and be ready to race when races start happening again.”

A positive spin

For some, the rescheduling has come with silver linings. Littleton runner Callie Skokos, for instance, had plans to run the Boston Marathon April 20 and the London Marathon April 26. With both rescheduled, for Sept. 14 and Oct. 4 respectively, she’ll now have a longer turnaround between the two races, she said.

Aiming to raise money for Children’s Hospital Colorado through the race, she acknowledged the virus could have a negative impact on fundraising. “Especially with people being out of work, people are more focused on their day-to-day, instead of donations,” she said.

That said, “I hope through the summer, I’ll possibly be able to raise more,” she said.

Barb Hurtt, a University of Denver teaching assistant professor who lives in unincorporated Jefferson County, added that for runners who actually have more work during the pandemic, instead of more free time, the postponement has been a somewhat welcome break.

“My work obligations increased about 50%, so it’s kind of been a blessing that I’ve had less demand on my training,” she said. “And I’ll enjoy being able to train over the summer, in nicer weather — I can’t tell you how many days I spent on the treadmill in February.”

Many of the runners said they remain unsure whether the race will actually go forward as scheduled in September, or if the virus’s impacts will prompt the Boston Athletic Association to postpone the race again.

But if all goes as planned, Airey, Hurtt, Lindeberg, Reish, Skokos and Smetana all still plan to represent Colorado at the race later this year, with hopes that the changes could, ultimately, even improve their times Sept. 14.

“This has helped me strengthen my runs. It’s something I look forward to every day,” Smetana said. “I’m just grateful I’m still able to get fresh air.”

Boston Marathon, running, trails, COVID-19,

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