This story has been archived from the Monday, August 21, 2006

PIKES PEAK MARATHON - 7 Short Stories

By MERI-JO BORZILLERI
THE GAZETTE and NICK WALTER

Busted arm slows Peak Buster but can’t keep her from finishing

Busted arm slows Peak Buster but can’t keep her from finishing

Long after the winners crossed the finish line Sunday, Cheryl Dusek did. She wore a fresh splint on an arm and gave spectators one of the day’s best, if latest, goosebump moments.

Dusek, 58, of Surprise, Ariz., finished in 9 hours, 59 minutes, 19 seconds — the final minute before the 10-hour cutoff time, when results no longer count.

Dusek’s counted, in a big way. She broke her arm at A-Frame, 10.2 miles from the finish, when she fell on the narrow, rock-strewn trail.

According to race director Ron Ilgen, El Paso County Search and Rescue caught up with Dusek at the Bottomless Pit sign and put a splint on her arm. She had about 8 miles to the finish line.

Dusek, a member of the women’s only Peak Busters, got the arm checked at aid stations along the way, which slowed her progress until her last-minute finish.

Dusek knows how to keep going. Dusek is a cancer survivor, Ilgen said.

PHOTO BY JERILEE BENNETT

Pueblo resident Dave Diaz had to get a wounded hand, arm and knee worked on at an aid station Sunday at the Pikes Peak Marathon. He was one of several competitors who needed assistance.

Beware of doctors

Bill Hollihan said he doesn’t need the kidney doctors removed June 29.

“Fortunately, the one kidney that’s left is working well,” Hollihan said.

Unfortunately, the 76-yearold from Beaver Dam, Wis., had trouble coping with the four containers of barium doctors give in order to take accurate X-rays. Hollihan was forced to turn around at the second aid station, 2.8 miles into the race.

Hollihan drank the fluid just over a week ago.

“It’s horrible stuff — like chalk,” Hollihan said. “Beware of fluids doctors give you.”

Wolfgang Zingl, a 34-yearold from Vienna, Austria, did not complete the race, either. He turned around before the top — at the 16 Golden Stairs — when his injured right knee became swollen. He injured the knee during training.

“I’ll be back,” Zingl said. “That mountain cannot break me.”

PHOTO BY JERILEE BENNETT

Humberto Parades cooled off in a spray courtesy of a car wash near the finish line of the Pikes Peak Marathon in Manitou Springs.

Run, Bernie, run

Bernie Boettcher is on a Forrest Gump-like streak for whimsical running.

The Pikes Peak Marathon was Boettcher’s 205th running race in 205 weeks, a streak that began in 2002.

So . . . why?

“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” said Boettcher, 43, an artist from Silt who finished seventh with a time of 4:08:09.

That race-a-week average included a pair of third-place finishes in 2003, when he ran the Ascent and Marathon.

It hasn’t always been smooth running. Boettcher dropped out at the summit of last year’s Marathon when a bee stung him, triggering a scary allergic reaction. He has broken a toe and sprained an ankle in past races here, so he felt good about finishing.

“Considering I know what to expect and know how bad it can be, I feel great,” he said.

Working up a thirst

Matt Carpenter, the eventual winner, had a sizable lead by the time he reached an aid station with less than 3 miles left.

In fact, by the time secondplace Galen Burrell passed the station, four songs had played on a nearby radio.

The station was at the corner of a hair-pin turn, where runners tried not to crash into a water/Gatorade table or skid off the trail.

“It’s a dangerous job,” said a worker who passed out drinks. “I’m about to get thrown off the edge.”

After the field of runners passed the station on the ascent, a 30-gallon trash bag of Gatorade had been consumed.

Money for your victory?

Prize money might become a reality for next year’s event, Ilgen said. He said the races came close this year to having a sponsor provide the money, and next year looks promising.

Murray on top of the world

Women’s winner Emma Murray successfully defended the World Long Distance Mountain Racing Championship she won last year in France. The Pikes Peak Marathon doubled as the world championship.

Etc.

The race began at 7 a.m. Because officials spotted lightning 23 miles away at 12:30 p.m., runners who reached A-Frame after 1:30 p.m. were taken down the mountain by shuttle. A-Frame is at timberline, 3.12 miles from the summit.


Copyright 2006, The Gazette, a division of Freedom Colorado Information. All rights reserved. Used with permission.


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