PHOTO GALLERY: Bash the Bluffs 5K
VIDEO: Start of the 2011 Bash the Bluffs 5K


Click on the Finish Line Index logo at right for results from today's race AND a list of all of your local results. Click and enter your name. It's easy!



Kyle Smith grew up running on the flat Nebraska plains and recently moved to Colorado Springs.
After winning the 10th Bash the Bluffs 5K on Saturday at UCCS, his first race in Colorado, he thinks he may have found a new home.
"This is great," Smith said. "I can see myself living here."
The Bash the Bluffs course is a tough one, with plenty of hills that can burn the legs of the area's best runners.
But Smith (right) ran strong, tracking down the race leaders in the last mile to win in 17 minutes, 20 seconds.

"It's not the kind of course I'm used to, but I guess I'll get used to it," he said.

Smith, an intern at the Olympic Training Center, is better at the longer distances. He has a 2:42 marathon PR.

Boulder Running Company runner Andy Rinne placed second in 17:34, followed by Paul Mann (17:42).
In the women's race, Clare Bar (below right) captured the top spot with a time of 20:46, followed by Nicole Erlacher (22:41) and Katelyn Swiatek, 22:54.

Bar, 24, a 2009 Air Force Academy graduate from Green Bay, Wis., hasn't raced much in Colorado Springs, but would like to add more competition to her schedule.

"I'm going to have to get in more races," she said. "I'd eventually like to try to get on the Air Force cross country team."

The race is a fundraiser for the Ed Burke Memorial Scholarship fund. Burke was the coordinator of sports sciences for the U.S. cycling team leading to the 1996 Olympics and a staff member for the 1980 and 1984 Olympic cycling teams. He later joined the faculty at UCCS. He passed away in 2002 after an suffering a heart attack while riding his bike.

Top 10 men

1. Kyle Smith, 17:20

2. Andy Rinne, 17:36

3. Paul Mann, 17:42

4. Gerald Romero, 17:58

5. Kevin Morgan, 18:04

6. Michael Stephens, 18:20

7. Ronnie Archuletta, 19:00

8. Jason Morgan, 19:20

9. Patrick Barret, 19:25

10. Chris Bittinger, 19:28

Top 10 women

1. Clare Bar, 20:46

2. Nicole Erlacher, 22:41

3. Katelyn Swiatek, 22:54

4. Malori Plush, 23:34

5. Laurie Groom, 25:29

6. Amy Ward, 26:02

7. Blaire Baker, 26:20

8. Shannon Parks, 27:01

9. Kellen Brown, 27:18

10. Alexia Sanchez, 27:56