Goblin Valley Marathon

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The 2006 Goblin Valley ultra marathon was held on Oct. 28. Anita Fromm is the event organizer. She said, “Once again, excluding two runners who dropped from the 50Km to the 25Km during the race, we had a 100 percent finish rate, for both the 25Km and 50Km. One 25Km contestant even completed the entire 50Km course.
“Our volunteers were awesome once again, and really made this event special for the 88 50Km and 30 25Km finishers. We couldn’t have done it without them. Special thanks to the Emery County Sheriff’s Office, search and rescue, and Green River Chamber of Commerce for all their help organizing and running the event, and all the aid station volunteers, course sweeps, finish line timers, food service, and multitude of others behind the scenes people who made the event a great success. The support we received for such a remote event was truly exceptional. Thanks to the Green River Coffee Company for hosting the pre-race check-in and pasta dinner, Goblin Valley State Park for letting us start and finish in such a natural wonder and their support during the race, and the United States Bureau of Land Management for permitting the race to be run on BLM roads and their support during the race,” said Fromm.
The Goblin Valley 50 Km course is primarily a gently rolling out and back course, run on BLM dirt roads and trails in Goblin Valley State Park. There is about a mile of pavement inside the park. The course was well marked with flagging, arrows, and flour or chalk. The 25 km course was also out and back, with the turnaround at the location of the second aid station of the 50 km course. The relatively level course and good footing make this an ideal race for a fast time.
Goblin Valley State Park sits at 5,000 feet. The course elevation ranges from approximately 4,600 to 5,100 feet.
Every starter of the 2006 Goblin Valley 50 Km and 25 Km received a long sleeve, high quality dry release t-shirt. Everyone finishing within the nine hour time limit received a beautiful custom made finisher’s medal. Awards were given to the top three overall male and female finishers in the 25K and 50K races. Age group awards were not presented. Awards for the top three male and female finishers in the 50K were handmade bowls created by the legendary ultra-running Tarahumara Indians who live in Copper Canyon in Mexico, and awards for the top three male and female finishers in the 25K were hand made rawhide drums made by the Tarahumara.
25 Km
*first place male – Duncan Callahan 1:39:51, from Gunnison, Colo.
*first place female – Annie Deprey 2:02:20, from Fruita, Colo.
*second place male – Wayne Cottrell 1:53:56
*second place female – Carol Lowe 2:13:05, from Colorado Springs, Colo.
*third place male – David Kopp 1:54:08, from Eagle, Colo.
* 3rd place female – Kirsten Nelson 2:19:30, from Fort Collins, Colo.
50 Km
*first place male – Scott Griffith 4:03:14 – new course record, from Afton, Wyo.
*first place female – Michele Jensen 4:20:24, from Littleton, Colo.
*second place male – Eric Bindner 4:03:45, from Littleton, Colo.
*second place female – Birgitta Johnsson 4:25:41, from Salt Lake City.
*third place male – Ryan Burch 4:09:00, Fort Collins, Colo.
*third place female – Meghan Hicks 4:27:20, Yellowstone, National Park.