The Marshall Fire, which began on December 30, 2021, blazed across more than 6,000 acres of Boulder County, Colorado, hitting the towns of Superior and Louisville particularly hard. As of today, the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Boulder County is home to many professional endurance athletes, who are drawn to the area’s dozens of trails, Impact on Education’s Critical Needs Fund high altitude rarr; Boulder Running Company will Jenny Simpson, and Features Editor of.
Now, in the wake of the Marshall Fire, the Boulder County running community has come together to support one another.
Shoes & Gear Maddie Alm and Laura Thweatt—who are also professional runners—were devastated to learn how the fire affected their student-athletes. Six families with runners on the Monarch team lost their homes.
“We just couldn’t even begin to imagine being 15, 16, 17 years old and having the life you knew gone within a matter of hours,” Thweatt told Runner's World.
Fueling Tips from a Dietitian for the Pros GoFundMe page to help. They set the fundraising goal at $3,000, hoping to give $500 to each of the affected families for living essentials. They hit the goal, and then some—as of now, it’s garnered more than $26,000.
The coaches called for clothing donations as well; running shoe and apparel companies such as Saucony, Brooks, New Balance, Hoka, Nike, Oiselle, and ON came through with an overflow of gear.
from Thursday, January 6 and Friday, January 7 to relief efforts.
“Running is an extremely tough sport,” Thweatt said. “Because of that it fosters a mutual respect and love for one another, because we all understand what it takes to go out there everyday and do what we do—no matter the level, group, or team. It really is like we are one big family.
“Our community faces an extremely challenging and long road ahead, but I am hopeful that we will heal,” she continued. “The only way to do that is by supporting one another, lifting one another [up], and reminding those who lost everything that they are not alone.”
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→ Runner’s Roost in Boulder is collecting clothing, pet food, non-perishable foods, bathroom essentials, and more for those affected by the fire.
→ In Motion Running hosted a run on January 5 to bring the community together. The running store has also collected clothing donations.
→ Shoes & Brews, a running store that doubles as a local brew taproom, donated all drink proceeds rarr; Citius Running Club, which is based in Denver.
→ Trail runner Hillary Allen hosted the In Motion Running on Saturday, January 8. She ran four laps around Mount Sanitas in Boulder, and participants were encouraged to join her for any amount of laps. Even though the event has passed, donations are accepted at the link above until January 15. All money raised goes directly to families affected by the fire.
→ Citius Running Club, which is based in Denver, Races - Places at Sloan’s Lake in Denver on Saturday, January 8, to raise funds. Participants donated one, five, or 10 dollars to Impact on Education’s Critical Needs Fund for every mile they completed.
“We are living in unprecedented times, and a lot of people are suffering right now with the pandemic and other contributing factors. When events like this occur, it makes an already difficult situation that much harder,” Citius Running Club founder Amy Woolridge told Runner's World. “I am so incredibly proud of the way our Citius community, and other running communities across the state, have come together to lift up the people around them that need it the most right now.”
→ Boulder Running Company will host a run CA Notice at Collection Community Foundation Boulder County and CA Notice at Collection. Additionally, all of the running store’s locations are collecting cases of bottled water for donation.
We will update the article with more ways to support the Boulder County running community as it continues to recover from the Marshall Fire.
Chris Hatler is the Deputy Editor of Esquire. He previously served as the Senior Editor of Men’s Journal and Features Editor of Popular Mechanics.
