Cara Marrs is always running around—literally—when it comes to juggling her roles as a local RD/Nutritionist, business owner, mother, and Co-Director of the Steamboat Springs Running Series. The local non-profit, which is over 40 years old, hosts a series of races every spring, summer, and fall to raise money for other local non-profits and to celebrate the sport of running. Even though Steamboat earned its trademark moniker Bike Town USA for its world famous singletrack, those same trails and the gentle, rolling terrain that is ideal for mountain biking is also great for trail running.
“People have been trail running in the valley for at least 40 or 50+ years, a lot longer than they’ve been mountain biking” Marrs says. “People here do a little bit of everything, we all love to bike and ski, and running is great cross training for most sports. Running doesn’t require a lot of gear, you don’t need special equipment or even special trails. It’s a low maintenance sport you can do all year round.”
The SSRS is a grassroots organization that has grown and evolved organically over the years. “A few of these races have been running for over 40 years. When I moved to Steamboat 26 years ago, there was no website. You would just pay your 20 bucks and show up and run the races and they were semi-no frills,” Marrs says.
Eventually the organization and its series evolved and solidified, with an official website (Marrs marvels at the fact that they were able to acquire the URL “runningseries.com”), online registration, a solid lineup of headline sponsors, and official 501c3 non-profit status. She and Co-Director Ken Rogers do everything from the financials, media, and organizing races to managing volunteers and running the race timing. Otherwise, the organization is run entirely by volunteers, who help run the series that kicks off in March and wraps up with a Halloween fun run end of October and currently includes 10 races. SSRS tracks points throughout the season and awards prizes for each age category at the conclusion of the season.
While Marrs considers SSRS very much a local, grassroots organization, the races attract runners from all over the state and beyond but proceeds always go to a local charity. “People in the trail running world love knowing they are giving back to the Steamboat community,” Marrs says. Each race has a charitable organization that receives the proceeds, such as Yampa Valley Autism, Northwest Colorado Health, Hayden Parks and Rec after school programs, the Trail Maintenance Endowment Fund and local school track and XC teams, among others.
Some of the more popular events include The 10k@10,000ft, Spring Creek Memorial Trail Run, Howlesen Hill, and the Continental Divide Trail Run 50k. The series includes interesting events such as the Hahn’s Peak Vertical Ascent, an 8-mile race to the summit and back of the dormant volcano Hahn’s Peak. There are also a few races included in the points series that are directed by other organizations but that the series partners with, such as the Steamboat Marathon, Emerald Mountain Epic Marathon and Run Rabbit Run, a 100-mile race that is one of only a few that can be used as a qualifier for the Hard Rock 100 in Silverton. Races typically have hundreds of competitors.
“We get people from all over,” Marrs says. “The running series is many locals, but we get tons of Front Range runners and runners from other ski towns, as well as other states.” A lot of the races have caps to make sure the field is manageable and that events are run safely.
Marrs says as Steamboat continues to grow, she’d love to see more volunteers get involved. “It’s always the same people helping at the races, and all of us have full time jobs and families. It’s a great way for people who are new to Steamboat to get involved. We are a very welcoming and supportive community. It’s not just the super competitive hardcore athletes but for beginners too.”
Marrs says people who don’t want to compete can participate in group meet ups, such as the Steamboat Trail Runners on Wednesday nights or the local chapter of Trail Sisters that try to run together at least 1-2x a month. Another way to get involved is to volunteer for a race and see what it’s all about.
“Ken and I both work in healthcare, and we both have families, and we run the organization in our free time, which is not that much free time,” Marrs says with a laugh. “It truly is a labor of love.” As anyone who works in the nonprofit world knows, there is no finish line—you just have to keep on running. //runningseries.com
