Interview with Stephan Andrade:

Stephan, thanks for participating in the RunColo Interview Series. Please tell us about yourself and how you became the Race Director of the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon?

My pleasure and thank you for the opportunity to tell the Story of Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half. I have been a runner for over 28 years and ran this race a few times back in the mid 80s and just had a great time. When I moved to Evergreen about 15 years ago I found a great school district and continued to run the race. Then one day a parent told me that this race is the main fund raiser for our schools and I wouldn’t have to sell candy bars or Christmas wrapping paper anymore if I volunteered for the race. That led me to actually offer to be the Race Director and as they say the rest is history.

This is the 31st annual Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon, can you tell us about the history of the race?

The race was started by Lee Campbell and the Buffalo Bar in Idaho Springs as a way to get some money raised for the kids in the schools. They needed everything; support for prom, to team uniforms to calculators to scholarships. In a small rural area we have to be creative in our fund raising efforts, you can only ask your neighbors and family for so much and the base is small enough that you can give every student something back because over 80% participate in sports, after school activities or something that gets funding from the race. So Lee was the Race Director for over 24 years and did a great job, since then we have all been trying to live up to the standard that he set. We have been fortunate to have great runners and over half of the fastest half marathon times for all ages groups set in our race. It has a rich history and its just one of those Colorado institutions.

Are there any races that are older in the state of Colorado?

As far as I know we are the oldest Half Marathon, there were a couple of others that started around the same time but they have since stopped being run.

Please discuss the growth of the race over the years?

It’s funny but we are best when we have between 3000 and 3500 runnersWe don’t really want to get much bigger than that because we feel it takes away from the closeness of the runners the sponsors and the volunteers. We are very much a community event, well supported by the towns the county and everyone that lives in the area. When we get much bigger (we have been as large as 5000 runners) we start to put stains on the relationship of the neighborhoods being cut off by cars being parked where the should or in one case not having enough parking in Georgetown so the racers started parking along i-70, that was a real problem. Bigger is not always better we want quality and a great experience for each and every runner or walker. I start getting emails in December about people planning their vacations in Colorado and want to do this around our race. When I see those emails I know we have something special and we need to keep it that way.

What difficulties are you experiencing in these rough economic times?

We are getting a few no’s from potential sponsors but all of our historical sponsors have come back and we have added a few new sponsors and exhibitors this year. So I know that people need to stretch their funds and with our exposure on I-70 (40,000 cars per day) and the great demographic of our runners, the sponsors do see a great marketing opportunity and when they realize how much value they are getting by working with us I am getting fewer turn downs, but any “no” hurts.

Your registration fees, currently $35 through July 5th make the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon one of the least expensive half marathons in Colorado; this begs the question…why so cheap?

We feel we have a strong base of runners who have been good to us over the years, why make them pay too much. We also have a great group of sponsors that cover our operational costs, we just feel it is fair to all parties and we still make enough money to take care of the kids, so if it ain’t broke why fix it. I will continue to work hard to get more sponsors and exhibitors so that we can keep our entry fee low, I feel strongly that it is important to get as many people out and running as possible.

I noticed that the registration fees state that an additional $5 is for the timing fee and registration, why is this cost broken out?

I like transparency and wanted our runners to know that we do have some operational costs that have gone up over the years, I guess I just wanted everyone to see where their money goes.

I was glad to see Mountain High Yoghurt was one of your sponsors, can you tell me their role at the race?

They have been a sponsor for over 15 years, without them donating product and our watermelon at the finish expo we would have some very sad runners.

What sort of logistical problems do you face with a point to point race?

Transportation and parking are the two biggest challenges. We have great support from the School district and the drivers volunteering their time to get everyone to the start, but between Georgetown Lake and side streets in Idaho Springs it is tough to find parking. We are thinking about ways to pick people up closer to Denver making the logistics a little better and being a bit “Greener” but I have not worked out all the details so I am not sure it will happen for this year’s race.

What are your goals for this race in 2009 and beyond?

I would like to get 3000 to 3500 runners this and every year. Our theme this year is “Running through History” as a way of recognizing the 150th anniversary of the discovery of Gold in Colorado and Clear Creek. The large rock at the bus pickup area is one of the first gold finds in the state. We want to start the “Colorado Challenge” a traveling gold pan trophy that goes to the best age rated team from training groups, running clubs or stores. This award would have the name of the runners and the team engraved on the award and given from one year to the next to the winners. A running Stanley Cup! After that I would like to find a group of corporate sponsors just believe in our cause of helping the kids as much as we do. We really do have a great time and it is hard to be asking for more when you see all the issues that other races face. I count my blessings.