Tour of Durango postponed

The Tour of Durango, scheduled for October 12, has been postponed until Summer 2009 in order to expand the event. The mountain bike/run/hiking event is a fund-raiser for Trails 2000 and the Southwest Conservation Corps. Trails 2000, a nonprofit formed almost twenty years ago that is responsible for building and maintaining the trails in and around Durango. The Southwest Conservation Corps employs and trains young people and completes conservation projects on public lands.

With support from title sponsor Alpine Bank, the event was ready to go on Sunday, October 12 but the event committee was presented with three opportunities to expand the scope and nature of the Tour of Durango. It decided kicking off a first-year event with even more gusto and partners would be worth waiting for.

"We realized that the event as it was originally proposed was going to get us just part of the way to where we want to be, which is providing an event the injects new energy to the Durango mountain bike and running scenes," said event director Jeff Frost.

The plans for next year are to partner with an existing event and bring a lot of visitors into Durango for a much larger-scale happening that could add multi-day multi day mountain bike and trail running opportunities.

"With continued strong support from event partners and sponsors Alpine Bank, Carvers Brewing Company, The Durango Herald, Studio 21, The Point, Trails 2000, and the Southwest Conservation Corps on board for the future, the 2009 event is in great shape," said Beth Drum, marketing director for Alpine Bank.

All registered 2008 participants have been contacted and their entry fees will be refunded.