CUCHARA—A beautiful, crisp July 3rd morning greeted approximately 200 combined runners for the 19th annual 1.1 mile Cuchara Valley Recreation Program and the inaugural Dog Trot 5K race. Proceeds for both events went to the benefit of the Cuchara Valley Recreation Program. Due to a scheduling conflict, the two races were merged and it seemed everyone had a good time, runners and dogs alike.
The two races began at the Cuchara Community Center, which was also the end point for the Fun Runners. For the 50 people and their dogs running the 5K dog trot, the course continued another two miles along Highway 12 and finished in front of the Dog Bar.
The original Cuchara community race has been organized the previous 18 years by Bruce Johnson and his family from Atlanta, Georgia. The event is held to support various programs conducted by the recreation program benefiting both Cuchara residents and visitors. In future issues, be on the lookout for articles written by Nancy Christofferson about various trails that are available to hikers in the Cuchara Valley. Runners and dogs came from far and wide to participate in the dog trot.
The overall winner was Hans Noordik of La Veta with a time of 12:02. Second place runner was Anne Ricketts, a high school track coach from San Francisco California in a time of 12:22. Third place was Kristie Krier of Castle Rock with a time of 14:58. The first place human/dog team was a lovely lady whose name escaped us in the confusion (sorry) but her poodle was Gabby. Sam Flanagin and Patch came in second, and Rodney White came in third with two dogs (we’re not sure which one of them crossed first.) The Huerfano World Journal and the Dog Bar were the major sponsors of the Dog Trot Event. Other sponsors were: DATCO Tesitor Financial Services, Max’s Place in Colorado City, Noordik Construction, Roselawn Pet Cemetary, Rio Cucharas Veterinary Clinic, Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center, The Conservation Land Appraisers,
Johnny’s Place and Larry Moore, DVM.
