Race History

The inaugural Santa Fe Run Around was held on June 23, 1979 as part of a multi-city Runners Day during the heydays of the running boom. Billed as the Capital City Run Around and sponsored by Rocky Mountain Magazine, the day included simultaneous 10K road races held in the capital cities of Denver, CO; Cheyenne, WY; Boise, ID; Helena, MT; Salt Lake City, UT; and Santa Fe, NM. The Striders organization was actually formed and incorporated for the event and a few current members were there on race day including Chris Chavez and Dale Goering. The race returned for year two as the Capital City Run Around, before a name change in 1981 to the Santa Fe Run Around as it has remained ever since.

The course has varied over the years as well. For many years the 10K route was a loop course, climbing Camino Monte Sol and bending east on Old Santa Fe Trail then north down Camino Cabra before returning to the Plaza. One year, the start and finish were at the De Vargas Mall rather than off the Plaza. The current course is a double loop of the 5K course beginning on the Plaza, routing east on Alameda and Canyon Roads before looping back at Cristo Rey Church.

Over the years the Run Around has been the traditional kick-off of the northern New Mexico summer running and racing scene and has hosted nearly all of the area's top runners over the last thirty-five years - On the men's side there was Tony Sandoval (& his friend Frank Shorter), Rick Rojas, David Segura, Bob Manzanares, Pablo Vigil, Wesley Smith, Peter Graham, Dan Maas, Casey O'Shea, and Simon Gutierrez. On the women's side there was Cathy Quintana (Ducaj), Kate Washburn, Moo Thorpe, Cathy Pierce, Maria Moriarity, and Rachel Cuellar, just to name a few.

We hope the Run Around will continue to bring out aspiring runners new and old from around northern New Mexico to shake out their summer legs and become a part of the growing history of Santa Fe's oldest running event.



**Thanks to Chris Chavez for providing the background to this brief summary