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FREE Photo Downloads in 2014

December 27, 2013 - Racing Underground announced today, an exclusive partnership with professional race photography company SkiPix.com, to provide participants with free downloads of their hi-resolution race photos. This athlete perk will begin with the Big Sky Duathlon, on April 13th at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Photos will be searchable by bib number at SkiPix.com approximately 3 days after each Racing Underground event, and will then be available for free download for a period of 10 days. Participants may also opt to purchase prints and other photo products, such as puzzles, magnets, and mock magazine covers. Prints, photo products and digital images will remain available for purchase after the 10-day time frame.

SkiPix.com is a professional race photography company, based in Boulder Colorado. They have been the official race photographer for Racing Underground events for nearly a decade, and are known for their high quality shots. Racing Underground is thrilled to be able to offer this fantastic benefit to all 2014 Racing Underground participants.


Racing Underground unveils XTERRA Fruita!

December 19, 2013 - The latest in a string of exciting announcements from Racing Underground comes today, as they announce that the Desert's Edge Off-Road Triathlon will become an official XTERRA event in 2014.

XTERRA Fruita is scheduled for September 13, 2014 at Highline Lake State Park in Fruita, on Colorado's western slope. The park is a beautiful green oasis, surrounded by a fantastic desert trail system for running and mountain biking.

The XTERRA Fruita course will feature a 1,200 meter point to point swim in Highline Lake, exiting on the opposite shore. Water temps in the mid-70's and the sun at the swimmers backs make this an excellent course.

From there, athletes will mount their bikes for a fun 12 mile, 2-lap ride in the desert. The bike course is a winding mix of single-track, and just enough double-track to allow convenient passing zones. Built with mountain bikers in mind, look for banked turns and a course that is 100 percent rideable. Fun for all ability levels!

The race concludes with a 4.5 mile rolling trail run, with stunning views from the bluffs overlooking the lake.

XTERRA Fruita debuted as an unaffiliated off-road tri in 2013, when it served as the opening event for the Desert's Edge Tri Festival. The festival is a two-day triathlon event featuring a Saturday off-road tri, followed by sprint & Olympic road triathlons on Sunday. In 2013, over 400 athletes and tri-fans camped at the venue, just 100 yards from transition. The race atmosphere is unlike any in Colorado!

The Desert's Edge Tri Festival returns for a third year in 2014, on a new mid-September date, which will bring warmer weather and warmer water than its traditional early October date.

"The XTERRA designation will be a great addition to the Tri Festival, " said race director Darrin Eisman. "With the XTERRA USA Championship just a week later in nearby Ogden, Utah, I think we'll see racers using this fast and fun course as a tune-up for the championship event. It will also be an opportunity to start earning points for 2015. "

Learn more about the Desert's Edge Tri Festival, and XTERRA Fruita.


New Course, New Venue, New Date
An All New Big Sky Duathlon!!!

December 18, 2013 - After months of work on permits, Racing Underground is proud to announce the details of an all new Big Sky Duathlon, which will now call Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home. Dick's is conveniently located just minutes from the intersection of I-25 and I-70 in Denver.

The Big Sky Duathlon will be the opening event in the three race Mile High Duathlon Series, which celebrates 15 years of Run-Bike-Run racing in 2014. The Big Sky Du is scheduled for Saturday April 13th.

"Dick's is the perfect venue for a Colorado duathlon," says race director Darrin Eisman. "Virtually the entire course will be closed to traffic, and it is very spectator friendly, with more than a half-dozen opportunities for race fans to watch their favorite athletes - all within a two minute walk from transition. Couple that with the convenient location, just 10 minutes from downtown Denver and 25 minutes from Boulder, and it is the perfect venue."

The new Big Sky Duathlon course will feature a 4k run, 12 mile bike, 4k run format. The run course is 95 percent soft surface well groomed running trail through Prairie Gateway Open Space. The bike is a flat and fast 12 mile route that will be closed to vehicular traffic.

The Mile High Duathlon Series has traditionally been a summer series, however with increasing competition from triathlons during the short Colorado open water swim season, the series will be moving to a spring timeframe in 2014.

"The new date will make the series more attractive to triathletes, who can use these races as tune-up events for the tri season which kicks off in mid-May," Eisman explains. The change in venue was done to bring the series closer to Denver. The race had previously been held in the town of Bennett, which was 30 minutes from Denver, and an hour from Boulder.

We will also be sanctioning the races with USA Triathlon this year, which will allow racers to earn points toward their duathlon national ranking.

Click here to visit the Big Sky Duathlon website. A spectator guide to the course will be posted in January.


Racing Underground to
Sanction with USA Triathlon in 2014

Barkin' Dog Duathlon awarded USA Triathlon Regional Championship

November 25, 2013 - Racing Underground announced today that it will be sanctioning eight of its multisport events with USA Triathlon in 2014, including its Mile High Duathlon Series, the Front Range Triathlon Series, and the Desert's Edge Tri Festival. Registration will open for their 2014 season on November 29th, with four days of discounted entries, running from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

"The decision to sanction was made following feedback from many of our longtime participants," said race director Darrin Eisman. "They expressed an interest in seeing us sanction our events so they could earn points toward their national ranking, as well as qualify for championship events like the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships."

Racing Underground has not sanctioned the three-race Mile High Duathlon Series events since 2000, and had also chosen not to sanction its six triathlons in recent years. The move to sanction will be very well received by local triathletes, as it will allow them to earn points toward their rankings, while competing in some of Colorado's best multisport events.

"This ties in nicely with other changes we are making in 2014," Eisman says, "We have shuffled some of our event dates to better fit the evolving Colorado multisport calendar, and we will be placing a greater emphasis on club competition, which we pioneered in Colorado 15 years ago. In 2014, we will be awarding $3,000 in cash prizes for the club competition at our triathlon events."

Another one of those changes is moving the Mile High Duathlon Series to a new spring timeframe. The three-race series kicks off in Mid-April, and culminates with the Duathlon Regional Championship on May 10 at the Barkin' Dog Duathlon, at Cherry Creek State Park, in Denver. For 16 years, the Barkin' Dog Duathlon has served as the unofficial season opener for Colorado multisport racing!

The Barkin' Dog Duathlon was created in the late 90's to fill a void on the regional championship calendar. The race served at the Rocky Mountain Regional Championship in 1999 and 2000, and sells out each year at 500 entrants.

"We have some of the best age group duathletes in the country - and in the world Ñ right here in Colorado. This year, they will be able to earn the points they need to improve their national ranking by racing locally." For triathletes, it provides a few tune-up races before the tri season kicks in a month later.

Racing Underground has been producing and timing endurance events in Colorado since 1995. They currently produce nearly 20 running, duathlon, and triathlon events annually, and provide timing and event support for another 50 area races.


Amazing winter Weather for 2011-2012 Chilly Cheeks Finale!

February 25, 2012 - Sunshine and temps in the 60's by the finish of the race lead to fast bike times at the final event in the 2011-2012 Chilly Cheeks winter duathlon series.

The three race series offers a different duathlon format each month - run/bike in December, run/bike/run/bike in January, and bike/run at the February event. There is also a four mile run-only option at the December and February events.

With the beautiful winter day, it's no wonder the February race drew the biggest crowd of the series. The duathlon started with 24 waves of approximately 10 cyclists, going off at 1 mnute intervals. A run-only wave followed the cycling waves. Eric Kenney, of Boulder, popped the fastest bike split of the day at 26mph for the dry 10.8 mile course.

The run, however, was a different story, as the blanket of snow that fell earlier in the week turned the trail sections to mush - slow, but very fun!

Series point winners took home bags of goodies including girl scout cookies, product from Hammer Nutrition, iBungees, and a gift certificate from Racing Underground! For more on the series, check out the series website at www.ChillyCheeksDu.com.


Inaugural Ralston Creek Half-Marathon
a Huge Success

February 12, 2012 - In the week leading up to the inaugural running of the Ralston Creek Half Marathon, Mother Nature threw everything she had at the race. Two feet of snow a week out, followed by two additional snowfalls that brought February 2012 into the record books as the second snowiest February on record.

The City of Arvada was diligent, however, and made sure the course was well plowed and 99 percent snow-free for the sold out 500 runner field. Still, race morning dawned colder than expected, with a 14 degree starting temp which never managed to hit 20 during the race.

The official finish total was 422 runners, with a core group of elites leading the charge. Michael Chavez took the win in 1:12:56, just a month after posting a 2:16 marathon at the Olympic Trials in Houston. He was followed just 12 seconds later by Brice Young of the Boulder Track Club at 1:13:08 and 2004 Olympic marathon team alternate Trent Briney in 1:13:31.

For the women, late entrant Nicole Aish, who lives right on the course, took the win in 1:26:27 with Katy Blakemore just 21 seconds back. Malia Mullen took the third overall women's spot. $1,000 in cash prizes were awarded to the top-3 male and female finishers.

As finishers streamed in, they made a beeline for the food tents, where hot breakfast burritos from El Senor Sol Mexican restaurant, coffee from Boyer's Coffee, and loads of other delicious post-race fare awaited.


Course Records Shattered at 2012 Yeti Chase

January 28, 2012 - The 2012 Yeti Chase saw a record number of participants, and men's and women's course records went down in both the 5K and 10K.

The race sold out a week before race day, despite an increase in the entry limit to 750 entrants. Among the 750 were a strong group of elites competing for their share of the $800 prize purse, while age groupers vied for gift certificates from Runners Roost Lakewood.

In the 5K, Steve Johnson took the top spot in 16:52, followed closely by Scott Schrader in 16:56 and 11 year old phenom Tyler Scholl in 16:57. Brianne Nelson took the women's 5K with a time of 17:45. Christie Foster and Li Downs rounded out the women's top-3.

In the 10K, Kenneth Foster took the top spot in a course record 33:28, followed by Frank therrian and Ragan Driver. For the women, it was Heather Utrata repeating as women's champion in 38:28 just ahead of Carrie Zografos in 38:52 and Kris Klotzbach in 3rd.

Weather was chilly, but perfect for a January romp around the scenic Beark Creek Lake Park course. The Summit Cove Yeti was on hand to cheer in finishers, and the hoto cocoa, home made banana chocolate chip bread, and steaming noodle cups were a welcome treat.


Yeti Chase 5K/10K and Ralston Creek Half Marathon
on pace to Sell Out!

January 7, 2012 - The Yeti Chase 5K/10K returns in 2012, with a larger prize purse, a bigger field, and the return of Summit Cove as the presenting sponsor!

It is also joined by the inaugural Ralston Creek Half-Marathon, just two weeks later, to offer a pair of great mid-winter events on the west side of the Denver metro area. Like the Yeti Chase, the Ralston Creek Half Marathon offers a cash prize purse, men's and women's tech-shirts and great post race food including home made banana chocolate chip bread, hot cocoa, and steaming ramen noodle cups. El Senor Sol Mexican restaurant will also be providing hot breakfast burritos as part of the Ralston Creek post-race spread! All finishers in the Ralston Creek Half Marathon will also take home a custom finisher's medal.

Both races are on pace to sell out, with the Yeti Chase approaching 70 percent full despite adding 250 additional runners to the 2012 race limit. The race is already beyond the 500 runners allowed in 2011. Ralston Creek is limited to just 500 runners, and is already more than half-full with 5 weeks to go before race day.

Part of the draw for the Yeti Chase has got to be the grand prize drawing for a $500 stay in one of the Summit Cove Keystone properties. Just get your photo taken with the Summit Cove Yeti on race morning - photos will be posted on the Summit Cove Facebook Page following the race. Tag your photo by noon on Thursday February 2nd, and you are entered in the drawing!!! You can choose your stay dates (between April 15 and October 15, 2012).

Another draw, for the top runners, is the $800 prize purse at the Yeti Chase and the $1,000 in prize money at the Ralston Creek Half Marathon. Age group awards will go three-deep, with Runners Roost Lakewood presenting a gift certificate to the first place finisher in each age group at the Yeti Chase, while Boyer's Coffee will be providing awards for all age group award winners at the Ralston Creek race.

Please visit www.YetiChase.com or www.RalstonCreekHalf.com for more info.

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