BOULDER — When U.S. Air Force pilot Ben Payne crossed the finish line first in the Bolder Boulder citizens race Monday, he carried a sense of pride and accomplishment, winning what he called the biggest race of his career.
He carried the names of family and friends who had died in combat fighting for the United States, scribbled in black Sharpie on a bib pinned to his back.
Lt. Ronald Payne, U.S. Navy — his grandfather killed in 1958 while flying; Maj. Blair “Bama” Faulkner, Capt. Ryan Hall, Capt. Nick Whitlock, 1st Lt. Justin Wilkens, Senior Airman Julian Scholten and Capt. David Lyon, all U.S. Air Force.
Payne, 33, an Arvada native and a major in the Air Force, raced a winning time of 30 minutes, 40 seconds, beating a talented field that included professional Fernando Cabada, a former Boulder resident.
“It’s a pretty special day to run, and really support my brothers and sisters who downrange deployed and doing the real business,” said Payne, who has served in Djibouti and Afghanistan, where he was U-28 pilot doing reconnaissance missions.
Payne, a graduate of Faith Christian Academy in Arvada and the Air Force Academy in 2004, trains with the Pikes Peak Elite track club in Colorado Springs, coached by Julie Benson. He hopes to make the U.S. Olympic marathon team for the Rio de Janeiro Games. After 2016, he will return to flying full time.
“You never know who’s going to show up here,” said Payne, who was racing for the first time since January after fighting tendinitis in his hip. “The turn onto Folsom was my go-ahead. That’s when I wanted to open up and see who went with me.”
His time was 10 seconds faster than last year’s winner and was the fastest since 2011, when Jeremy Freed won in 30:27. He closed quickly, running his sixth mile in 4:43, the fastest in the citizens field.
Brittni Hutton was the top women’s finisher in 34:46 — 70th overall and significantly faster than last year’s time. For her, the road to winning the citizens race has taken her from Michigan and Oakland University — where she graduated in 2013 — to the American Distance Project in Colorado Springs and finally to Alamosa, where she trains on her own and with the Adams State team and works part time in the university’s counseling office.
“I was trying not to go all out that first mile; I was trying to stay comfortable,” she said. “I get super excited — because I love racing — I was literally trying so hard not to get caught up and just relax.”
Hutton, who is coached by Quent Bearden out of Lubbock, Texas, still went through the first mile in 5:30, some 15 seconds faster than she had planned. She relaxed before making another surge late in the race. The fifth mile was her fastest split — 5:26.
“People were telling me (I was in the lead), but I had a whole pack of girls behind me, and just tried to stay strong and focused,” she said. “There’s so much talent that was in this first heat this morning — who have definitely kicked my butt before.”
In the wheelchair division, Josh George of Champaign, Ill., and Amanda McGrory of Savoy, Ill., repeated as champions, finishing in 23:21 and 27:08 respectively.
“It was dry, sunny, not too humid,” McGrory said. “You can’t ask for a better day.”
When she was 5 years old, McGrory contracted acute transverse myelitus, a rare autoimmune disease. Essentially, she woke up one day and couldn’t walk.
She started competing in wheelchair sports soon thereafter and hopes to make the U.S. Paralympic team for the Rio Games, competing in the 80, 1,500, 500 and marathon — all events she did in London in 2012.
Maneuvering over the course is particularly difficult for wheelchair racers because of the number of turns, which forces them to slow down and check their speed into the turn before accelerating out of it. The altitude just adds to the difficulty.
“It’s beautiful here. Who wouldn’t want to come out here and race?” said George, 31. “And the course itself being challenging is actually part of the attraction.”
George fell out of a 12- story apartment window while reaching for a toy on a shelf when he was 4 years old, landing directly on both feet in some small bushes. He didn’t break his back on the fall, but the resulting swelling in his body caused paralysis.
His parents found him a wheelchair sports team in Baltimore and drove him the 90 minutes each way from his home in northern Virginia so he could participate in basketball, tennis, swimming, archery and track and field, among other sports. In high school, he narrowed his focus on basketball and track before settling on track and field in 2008.
“It’s definitely one of the harder (courses) we do,” McGrory said. “You’re pushing and working the whole time, and with altitude on top of that, my lungs just burn for 27 minutes straight.”
Daniel Petty: 303-954-1081, dpetty@denverpost.com or twitter.com/danielpetty
