Second leg of Triple Crown of Running set to go Sunday

The annual Summer Roundup Trail Run will continue as planned Sunday.

The 12K starts and finishes at Bear Creek Regional Park, which was closed for several days due to high fire danger and the deployment of so many local first responders to the nearby Waldo Canyon fire.

"We didn’t expect to cancel, but we were prepared to use an alternate course to avoid the fire danger of the park," race director Ron Ilgen said.

Photos from 2011 Summer Roundup

The course is an out-and-back route that starts inside the park before winding up High Drive. While the course does not have many technical sections, the 995-foot gain in elevation presents a challenge.

"It’s not really as rigorous as the Ascent, but it’s a 12K so it’s a good measure of where you are with 40 days to the actual race," Ilgen said.

The Summer Roundup, which begins at 7 a.m. Sunday, is the second leg in the Triple Crown of Running. It's followed by the third leg - the Pikes Peak Ascent on Aug. 18 or the ascent portion of the Pikes Peak Marathon on Aug. 19.

For their overall time, Triple Crown runners who race the Ascent and Marathon can use their best time from either race.

Runners are not limited to entering the series; they can run any leg as an individual race.

While there are concerns about the dry weather affecting the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon, Ilgen plans for the series to go on.

"We’re going full speed ahead, but it depends on whether we get the monsoon rains," he said. "This whole situation is similar to the Hayman fire in 2002, but we got the rain then. All we can do is hope for the best and move forward."

Note: The Barr Trail Mountain Race scheduled July 15 has been canceled due to fire danger.