Press Release:

One-hundred-fifty years ago, in 1859, two surveyors exploring near Old Colorado City came upon the Garden of the Gods. One of them, Rufus Cable, exclaimed, “. . . it is a fit place for the gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods.” Fifty years later in 1909, one hundred years ago, the children of Charles Elliott Perkins (friend of General Palmer and head of the Burlington Railroad), knowing their father’s feeling for the Garden of the Gods, conveyed his four-hundred eighty acres to the City of Colorado Springs. It was to be known forever as “the Garden of the Gods, where it shall remain free to the public, where no intoxicating liquors shall be manufactured, sold, or dispensed, where no building or structure shall be erected except those necessary to properly care for, protect, and maintain the area as a public park.” Decades later, in 1977, the Garden of the Gods Ten Mile Run began when the Pikes Peak Track Club, now known as the Pikes Peak R!
oad Runners, under the leadership of Colorado Springs attorney and Pikes Peak Marathon board member Tom Berg, organized a local run with a varying distance from the typical 5Ks, 10Ks and marathons. An impressive 376 runners showed up that first year along with then Colorado Governor Richard Lamm himself present for a training run the Friday before the event.

Some call the Garden Run an event that has it all: a spectacular setting, a physically demanding course, competition in nearly all age groups and attracting thousands of runners. It is part of the Colorado Runner Racing Series and has been awarded Colorado Runner’s “Most Scenic” run in 2008 and “Race of the Year” in 2007. The race starts and finishes in Manitou Springs with most of the run inside the beautiful Garden itself nestled between Manitou and Colorado Springs. This thirty-third running of the Garden of the Gods Ten Mile Run offers monetary prizes for the first three finishers and the four aid stations. The aid stations are staffed by local high school cross country and track teams, and at the finish line runners vote for their favorite station with the money dispersed according to number of votes received.

Whether you are running to celebrate your own running, the Garden of the Gods or Colorado, don’t miss running in this year’s 33rd Garden of the Gods Ten Mile Sunday, June 14th. This is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Running Series. The second leg will be held on July 5th with the 12K Summer Roundup Trail Run in Bear Creek Regional Park, and the series concludes with the final leg of either the Pikes Peak Ascent on August 15th or the ascent portion of the Pikes Peak Marathon on August 16th. Registration is available online at www.gardentenmile.com, www.thetcr.com (to view all runs in the series), active.com or in person at the Triple Crown of Running/Pikes Peak Marathon office, 441 Manitou Avenue, Suite 100 in Manitou Springs (719/473-2625) and the Colorado Running Company, 833 North Tejon Street in Colorado Springs.