This year, we're celebrating our 14th birthday. Since 2010, we've been proud to be a part of our community - growing, discovering, promoting, and pursuing recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. As we have navigated challenges (like a global pandemic, rising costs of operation, and others), we remain committed to our mission: to promote a culture of community and healthy living through human-powered outdoor recreation in the Royal Gorge Region.
When FAR began, just one running event and a social graced the yearly calendar, and since then, we've expanded our yearly offerings to include over half a dozen athletic competitions, various social meetups, numerous community events, and a great deal of community work. Some events have come and gone, but we've always tried to bring new and interesting events to runners, joggers, and mountain bikers.
With only one part-time employee, board members with ever-demanding lives, generous and sponsors / members, and volunteers who have the biggest hearts in Colorado, we are constantly humbled by what this community can achieve. From only a few ragged miles of social and hiking trail, we've added 62 miles of singletrack to the map. We've grown runBlossom from a few downtown runners to one of the biggest events in Southern Colorado. Since 2015, Adventure Guides have helped countless people to find a new trail to explore and enjoy. We've helped our community to join larger conversations around Tourism Stewardship, Sesquicentennial Celebrations, public land management, and the future of outdoor recreation. We instituted an optional 1% trail donation program that's funded miles of singletrack in the area. It's work we've been honored to help with.
In 14 years, we've also seen our community embrace the culture of outdoor recreation. As children growing up in the area are exposed to recreation opportunities, we've seen participation in running, mountain biking, river surfing, and climbing increase. Our local mountain bike team now boasts 20 participants - more than many communities our size. YOUR investment in creating a positive environment for recreation participation, paired with opportunities for children to be welcomed into recreation, is making a difference. It's not uncommon to see a former YETI runner now heading off to collegiate cross country meets. Kids who grow up riding Mutton Bustin' are now winning regional mountain bike accolades. It takes a village of recreation supporters to provide the infrastructure to make this possible.
When FAR began, just one running event and a social graced the yearly calendar, and since then, we've expanded our yearly offerings to include over half a dozen athletic competitions, various social meetups, numerous community events, and a great deal of community work. Some events have come and gone, but we've always tried to bring new and interesting events to runners, joggers, and mountain bikers.
With only one part-time employee, board members with ever-demanding lives, generous and sponsors / members, and volunteers who have the biggest hearts in Colorado, we are constantly humbled by what this community can achieve. From only a few ragged miles of social and hiking trail, we've added 62 miles of singletrack to the map. We've grown runBlossom from a few downtown runners to one of the biggest events in Southern Colorado. Since 2015, Adventure Guides have helped countless people to find a new trail to explore and enjoy. We've helped our community to join larger conversations around Tourism Stewardship, Sesquicentennial Celebrations, public land management, and the future of outdoor recreation. We instituted an optional 1% trail donation program that's funded miles of singletrack in the area. It's work we've been honored to help with.
In 14 years, we've also seen our community embrace the culture of outdoor recreation. As children growing up in the area are exposed to recreation opportunities, we've seen participation in running, mountain biking, river surfing, and climbing increase. Our local mountain bike team now boasts 20 participants - more than many communities our size. YOUR investment in creating a positive environment for recreation participation, paired with opportunities for children to be welcomed into recreation, is making a difference. It's not uncommon to see a former YETI runner now heading off to collegiate cross country meets. Kids who grow up riding Mutton Bustin' are now winning regional mountain bike accolades. It takes a village of recreation supporters to provide the infrastructure to make this possible.
One a personal level, our board has grown in the last decade and a half, too. Several members of the board have been with the organization for over a decade, and since then, they've added children to their lives, moved, changed jobs, and generally "grown up". Events often take on a new meaning as the next generation of FAR volunteers run events, win awards, assist with volunteer jobs, and become part of our work at FAR. Our kids have been handing out water, setting up cones, and riding along to meetings for a long time.
We are so proud to share FAR with our community. Thank YOU for helping us to make it to 14 years of fun. We can't wait to see what the future holds.
Thank you to our past and current board members for dedicating so much to FAR:
Current members:
Brian VanIwarden
Adam Hartman
Brian LeDoux
Joan Sindler
Megan Merry
Sean Weatherill
Jon Banker
Vicki Meier
Travis Payne
Former board members:
Joanna McIntyre
Chris McIntyre
Thom LeDoux
Scott Eckstrom
Leticia Buswell
Our History
On October 10, 2010, three friends - Brian VanIwarden, Joanna McIntyre, and Chris McIntyre, came together in a leap of faith and formed Fremont Adventure Recreation. Between them, they had a shared passion for outdoor recreation and a plethora of other talents - race directing, internet communication, coaching, and event organization. Their first task was to assist with the burgeoning runBlossom races, which was gaining traction in its third year and needed to evolve. To assist in this endeavor, they needed money. Timing software, technical equipment, and course materials weren't cheap.
The board approached their first sponsor, The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey, with the hopes of acquiring the funds to get FAR off the ground. It was Larry Oddo who launched the organization with their first donation, making it possible for FAR to buy the generator that would power the timing equipment necessary for runBlossom. The board President's own mom, Shirley, even pitched in to buy FAR's first trailer, which you see today at races across the county.
Little by little, hard-earned money began stacking up in FAR's account, and they were able to add events to their calendar. They also welcomed new board members, each who brought invaluable talents to the small group. As their budget and capacity grew, they added new events. This included Bikes & Brews, their first truly independent event, in 2012. The annual runBlossom race now welcomes over 500 runners to Cañon City each year, and features the city's only half-marathon race. They time for the spectacular Rim to Rim every year, assist with the Whitewater Festival, and have added smaller events, such as movie nights, socials, kids and ladies' mountain bike clinics, and a scholarship program to their list of community contributions.
As outdoor recreation continued to grow in the Royal Gorge Region, FAR gradually recognized a need for quality trail systems in addition to events. Partnering with the BLM, Recreation District, and the City of Cañon City, FAR worked to raise funds (including putting forth money from races as well as hiring a grant writer) to identify, design, and develop additional trails in the area. It was the introduction of the '1% for Trails' initiative in 2015, however, which helped to launch FAR into the business of building significant, extensive, world-class trail systems. Putting their trust and faith in the organization, Whitewater Bar & Grill and Red Canyon Cycles were the first to sign on to the program and invest in the future of Cañon City. Today, the Hogbacks, the Royal Gorge Trail System, South Cañon Trails, and additional work in Oil Well Flats bear the mark of those first businesses, board members, and Mcleod-wielding volunteers who made them possible. As additional businesses sign on, FAR is looking forward to helping the Royal Gorge Region community to expand their hiking, biking, and riding miles.
It's been 14 years, one hundred and fifty-two board meetings, hundreds of hours at local events, several changes of tires on the trailer, and thousands of happy runners / bikers. As with any organization, there have been changes, tense moments, disappointments, and setbacks. Not every decision has been easy, and not every opportunity has been met with success. But if you smile when you ride the Cañon Rim Trail, if you enjoy a quiet stroll with your dog on in South Cañon, or if you high-five someone in a FAR t-shirt at the finish line of a local race...you'll know why they do what they do. Because they love it, too.
Thank you, Cañon City, for your faith in our organization, your many selfless volunteer hours, your contributions to our fundraising efforts, your patronage of the businesses who support us, and for your encouraging compliments. We hope to serve you for decades to come.
Some of these little FAR adventurers are in high school! Where has the time gone?
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