Half-marathon pushes runners to the brink

IDAHO SPRINGS — Wayne Cousineau can run a half-marathon as good as most anyone his age.

His only problem is finishing the race in a way that doesn’t resemble Lazarus.

Cousineau crossed the finish line of the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half-Marathon on Aug. 9, before crumpling to the ground with legs that no longer worked and a distant gaze.

And that was progress for the Boulder runner.

“The last race I went in to I fell just before the finish line,” Cousineau said. “I was determined this time I wasn’t going to. I came around the corner, and I got about halfway down and I thought, ‘Man, you better stay on your feet, Big Boy.’ ”

Cousineau was pulled out of the way and revived to his chipper self in no time. It was his second time to run the annual event, which attracted more than 2,000 runners and walkers.

Cousineau placed sixth in his age bracket and 163rd overall — men and women — with a time of 1 hour, 36 minutes and 46 seconds.

He also maintained a dubious tradition he was quite comfortable laughing about.

“It’s just my style, I guess,” he said of collapsing, before adding that giving every ounce of energy for a race is a tonic for soul. “I just love the feeling. Give it everything you got — that’s what I do.”

And it’s what a lot of people did. Folks from California and Massachusetts. Big folks, small folks, young and old.

Jason Delaney of Golden won the men’s race with a time of 1:10:23, while Lakewood’s Patty Rogers was the top female with a time of 1:21:31.

Jason Saitta of Parker (1:10:25) was second in the men’s, while 19-year-old Alexander Lundy of Littleton (1:13:24) was third, teenager Mattieu Caldwell (1:13:27) of Aurora was fourth and Wheat Ridge’s Oscar Ponce (1:15:23) rounded out the top five.

Jamie Rosenquist of Boulder was second in the women’s division (1:25.56), while Vail’s Rachel Viele, a two-time defending champion of the Slacker Half-Marathon, was third (1:26.07). Rounding out the top five were two national runners as Sarah Glatt of Shawnee Mission, Kan., placed fourth (1:27:11) and Maureen Forsyth of Salem, Mass., was fifth (1:28:24).

Women outnumbered the men 1,118 to 921. The average time, according to race statistics, was 2:07:30.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Aurora runner Tiffany Kikta, who finished 268th overall with a time of 1:42:44.9. “I would recommend it to anyone, even if they walk it.”

Kikta, a native of Pittsburgh, ran the race for the first time to help her prepare for the upcoming Denver Marathon. She sheepishly admitted it was her first foray into the mountain races because her aversion to getting up real early makes her choose races close to home.

George Jones had no problem making the trip from Monument to run the course for his third time. Jones, like most runners, praised the blue-sky morning, although the heat was fast approaching.

“Great race. A little hot,” Jones said. “We had some headwind at the start. But that’s all right. I wish there was a little more air up here.”

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