Estes Park race canceled amid fire fears

ESTES PARK — With several wildfires actively burning around Estes Park, the organizers of the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon & 5K scheduled for Saturday have canceled the race. 

“Vacation Races (the event organizer) has been actively monitoring the developing fire crisis in Colorado for several days,” the company said in an email. “As you are aware, this afternoon the situation changed dramatically, with four new fires appearing within the last 24 hours in sporadic locations within the region. Boulder County and Larimer County fire districts, along with the Estes Park Police Department, have requested all events be canceled in Estes Park while they investigate and triage the growing evacuation demands.”

Vacation races said it would give would-be runners “options to complete the event virtually or defer to a future event.”