From The Daily Camera
By Michael Sandrock
Rose petals both red and white littered the Potts Field track homestretch on a recent Thursday evening as runners and walkers finished the Teri Leiker Memorial Mile, an annual event that honors the late Teri Leiker, the popular King Soopers service clerk who died along with nine others in the March 2021 shooting at the store. The race capped the penultimate Boulder Road Runners track meet of the summer and was one of several mile races featured in Boulder this summer.
The race goal, organizer Deb Conley told the crowd, was “to surround you with the energy, passion and love of sports that Teri so exuberantly displayed in life as a participant and spectator.”
A Leiker-like exuberance was on display all evening long, from the kids and elders showing future and past track and field potential and prowess in the sprints and 1500 meters and jumps and throws to the Fairview High track and cross country runners racing the evening’s final event, the 3000-meter steeplechase.
Margie Whittington, left, mother of the late Teri Leiker, and longtime advocate for those living with disabilities Deb Conley get ready to hand out roses to the finishers of the annual Teri Leiker Memorial Mile July 18 at the Boulder Road Runners All Comers summer track series held on the University of Colorado’s Potts Field Track. (Dave Albo – Courtesy photo)
“It’s rare to get the chance to race the steeple with the water jump,” Fairview head cross country coach Ryan Root explained. While fans wait for U.S. Olympic trials champ Val Constien to race her opening steeplechase heat Sunday at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, a glimpse of the future was seen in Fairview senior Sierra Wall’s stellar form going over the barriers and water jump.
Offering track and field competition — including a javelin throw — for all ages in a low-key, competitive meet, “is really where we excel,” said volunteer Todd Straka, fresh off helping the Boulder Road Runners set an American age group record for the 4×800 meter relay in Sacramento, Calif.
Straka and club president and former CU track and cross country runner Chris McDonald are on a roll this summer, having been selected to race at last month’s U.S. Olympic Trials invitation-only masters 800-meter race in Eugene, Ore. McDonald, 55, won in 2:14.25 seconds, going out in 31.6 seconds for the first 200 meters and leading wire to wire.
“Regardless of your age and ability, we’re all in pursuit of our best self,” McDonald said. “That became really clear in Eugene. That we (the 800-meter field) raced well moved the crowd more than the time we ran. A roaring crowd provides that insight.”
Boulder’s Chris McDonald breaks the tape in winning the masters 800 meter race June 24 at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials. McDonald, a University of Colorado track alum and president of the Boulder Road Runners, clocked 2:14.2. (Chris Stone – Courtesy photo)
Look for another roaring crowd Thursday evening at Potts Field for the highly competitive Mile High Mile, the final race in the Boulder Road Runners summer track series, offering a purse of $4,000. Roll Recovery is offering a $1,000 bonus for the first male breaking the magical 4-minute mile mark and 4:32 for the women.
Fairview’s Root, who also coaches and competes for the Roots Running Project, is in the men’s field, along with elites Joey Berriatua, Daniel Michalski, Brian Barraza and Austen Dalquist. Mile High women’s defending champ Kaela Edwards is back to defend her women’s title, along with several good post-collegians.
Drew Hunter, front. paced the field at last year’s Mile High Mile, which is set for Thursday evening at the University of Colorado’s Potts Field track. The evening includes the final Boulder Road Runners All Comers track meet of the year. (Dave Albo – Courtesy photo)
If you missed the Pac 12 championships and have not been out to the new University of Colorado track and jogged around, the Mile High Mile is a great opportunity to check it out. Straka, the Mile High race director, will likely, as in the past, invite spectators and all the entrants from the evening’s earlier races, to crowd along lane one, creating what he calls “a wall of sound” to cheer on the runners.
The community mile races begin at 7 p.m., followed by the elites (8 p.m. for the women, 8:15 p.m. for the men). All-comers events start with the 100 meters at 6 p.m. (boulderroadrunners.org). If you miss the community mile on Thursday, you get one more opportunity to race another mile Saturday evening at the popular Pearl Street Mile on the downtown pedestrian mall (teamboco.com).