The Two Shoes Trek Challenge

One of the nation’s first destination resorts, Colorado Springs is now the state’s second-largest city and one of many faces. Its natural beauty and pleasant climate attract legions of visitors from around the globe, who come to ascend the summit of majestic Pikes Peak and admire the exquisite sandstone spires of the Garden of the Gods.

A handful of sights, from the excellent fine-arts museum to the historic Air Force Academy, add to the undeniable appeal of the monumental Front Range. With that being said, the American Discovery Trail Half Marathon is the place to be.

A roughly six-and-a-half-mile-long stretch of the American Discovery Trail that runs through Colorado Springs is the setting for the 13.1-mile event in the annual Labor Day running of the American Discovery Trail Marathon, Half Marathon & Relay.

The ADT Half Marathon is the RRCA Colorado State Championship Race. The half marathon starts at 6:45 AM. Runners will run north on the Pikes Peak Greenway to a turnaround just north of Garden of the Gods Road and then turn back south along the same trail, continuing to the finish line at America the Beautiful Park. The trail is an urban trail with some sections of concerete, asphalt and crushed granite. Some of the concrete sections have an adjacent soft shoulder.

The race is organized by the local running club known as the Pikes Peak Road Runners and designed to benefit both the club as well as the Trails and Open Space Coalition, a locally-based nonprofit that works to create and preserve networks of nature trails and greenways in the Colorado Springs area and the Pikes Peak region.