Pueblo Chieftain Spring Runoff

Information:

The American Driving Academy and the Southern Colorado Runners welcome you to the 47th Annual Spring Runoff Sunday, March 3rd, 2024. Join us for the 47th edition of Pueblo’s oldest and largest running event.  The American Driving Academy, a locale company, is the main sponsor of our race and a portion of race proceeds benefit the Care & Share Food Bank of Pueblo.  We will be collecting non-perishable food items the day of the race.  This year we are adding a monetary award for the overall winners of each race.

Kids through 8th grade can run for free in the  Funner To Be A Runner event starting at 10:45 am. Sign up for the event on this link, sign the waiver and get credit for your school.

We are offering 3 races of varying distances that should appeal to a wide variety of runners.  The 5K, 10K, and 10 mile race courses all incorporate the beautiful Arkansas River Trail, beginning and ending at Dutch Clark Stadium.  We will be running routes that will incorporate running on both sides of the Arkansas River and each distance will have a loop to follow.  Half of the course will be on top of the historic Arkansas River Levee and the 5K will use the first suspension bridge as a crossing point while the 10K will use the solid iron bridge near Runyon Lake.  The 10 mile will go east to Lake Runyon, around the entire lake and head back west using the entire length of the levee.  All of the course is traffic free for runners safety.  You can visit our Facebook site, Pueblo Spring Runoff for more information.

5K -$35  (early entry through February 24th---$40 beginning February 25th)

10K-$40  (early entry through February 24th---$45 beginning February 25th)

10 Mile-$45  (early entry through February 24th---$50 beginning February 25th)

Overall winners for each race will receive a race plaque in commemoration and the following monetary awards will be presented: 1st place $200.00, 2nd place $100.00 and 3rd place $50.00!    Age group medals will awarded for first 3 places in 5 year increments.

Packet pickup will be held at the Gold Dust Saloon, 217 S Union Ave, Pueblo CO in Pueblo from 5-8 pm on Saturday March 2nd 2024. Race day packet pickup will be at Dutch Clark Stadium from 7:00-8:30 am.

All runners who register by Feb 17, 2024 will be guaranteed:

Race shirt with Spring Runoff logo

All Southern Colorado Runners and Pikes Peak Road Runner members will receive a $5 discount with code

MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNT today and for future SCR events, if you are a member of Southern Colorado Runners, or JOIN today.
The membership discount will be applied during checkout.

For the registration process to recognize that you are a Southern Colorado Runners member, if you have not already claimed your SCR membership within RunSignUp, you first need to go to the Club page for the Southern Colorado Runners and claim you membership.  This is done as follows.

Go to: (https://runsignup.com/Club/CO/Pueblo/SouthernColoradoRunnersTriathlonClub)
In the left column of buttons, click on "Members".
Search for your name.
Click on "Is this you?"
An e-mail will be sent to the E-mail address of this user, which contains a link with instructions to complete the process.

Once your membership has been claimed within the RunSignUp system, you will then have an account with RunSignUp.  If you have a family membership, you can then add family members that live in your household.  Those family members will also be able to apply the membership discount.

When you register for an event that offers discounts to SCR members, on one of the first Registrant screens, you'll see a "Have An Account?" message followed by a SIGN IN button.  Click on the SIGN IN button and sign in using your RunSignUp account information.  That will allow RunSignUp to recognize that you are a SCR member, and the member discount will be applied.

Course Description (see link to course maps below):

10 Mile: This course is relatively flat and takes runners east from Dutch Clark Stadium.  Once you are on the river trails system you will head east to Lake Runyon and run around the entire lake.  After running around Lake Runyon, you will be on the north side of the Arkansas River and follow the trail to the top of the Historic Arkansas River Levee.  You will be running west and have a view of the "grove" neighborhood and the rail yards.  You will also have a bird's eye view of the Arkansas River and the series of kayak rapids.  Eventually you will be across and upriver from Dutch Clark Stadium where you will run down the incline on the new concrete trail and as you approach the Wildhorse Bridge you will turn right (west) on the dirt road, staying on the north side of the river.  You will be running in an old growth forest of Cottonwood Trees and the construction site.  After approximately 1.71 miles you will turn around and follow the same dirt trail back to the bridge, turning right (south) and crossing to the south side.  After crossing, you will turn left (east) and head back to Dutch Clark Stadium and after you enter the stadium veer left and do a partial lap to the finish line.  The course is a large loop with a dog leg towards the end.  Start time for this race is 9:00am.  There is construction upriver from the stadium causing us to detour on the north side.

10K Run: The course leaves Dutch Clark and heads east staying on the south side of the Arkansas River until reaching the iron bridge near Lake Runyon where you will turn left (north) and cross to the north side of the river.  Upon crossing you will turn left (west) and head to the top of the Arkansas River Levee.  You will be running on top of the levee giving you a view of the "Grove" neighborhood and the railyards plus a bird's eye view of the river.  You will continue west until you reach the incline heading back to the river towards the Wildhorse Bridge.  Before reaching the bridge, you will turn right (west) and head through the old growth Cottonwoods on the dirt road for .46 miles where you will turn around and head back to the bridge.  Reaching the bridge, you will turn right (south) and cross, then turn left (east) and back to the stadium.  After you enter the stadium, veer left and do a partial lap to reach the finish line.  This course is a large loop with a dog leg towards the end.   Start time for this race is 9:00am.  There is construction upriver from the stadium and the trail is closed as a result we are using this detour on the north side.

5K Run: The 5K course is flat and fast. It follows the same course as the 10 mile and 10K course.  Upon reaching the first suspension bridge you will turn left (north) and cross the river.  After crossing, you will turn right (east) for a short distance to the turnaround point and water stop where you will change directions and head back west staying on top of the levee on the north side of the river.  Nearing the end of the levee you will go down the incline on the new concrete trail to the Wildhorse Bridge and cross the river.  After crossing you will turn left (east) and head down river back to Dutch Clark Stadium to finish. Upon entering the stadium veer left and do a partial lap to the finish line.  Start time for this race is 9:15am.

More Details

Pueblo is located in the "banana belt" of Colorado. 76% of the days in Pueblo are Sunny, more sunny days than San Diego or Miami. When other areas of Colorado experience snow, Pueblo many times remains dry. That being said, weather in March is unpredictable. We hope for sunny and 60 degrees but it could be snowing. Check the weather forecast; be prepared for snow and cold. Please do your best to provide a quality and safe run and enjoy your run.