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Rodeo, Shortcut put buck and run into festival

Joelle MilholmPost Independent Staff

For years the Strawberry Days Rodeo has been a major part of Glenwood Springs’ annual festival, and this year will be no different.On Friday and Saturday the 109th Rodeo will fill the Glenwood Rodeo Arena, bringing in all sorts of participants and hundreds of audience members.”I’m guessing we will have around 400 contestants,” said Leslie Torres, coordinator of the event. “In the past we have drawn around 2,000 in the crowd between the two days.”Events spanning over the Colorado Pro Rodeo Association sanctioned two-day rodeo include: bull riding, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, team roping, ladies breakaway roping, calf roping, bareback riding, barrel racing, mutton busting and catch-a-calf.”Friday night they will compete against each other, and then on Saturday night they will compete against the times from Friday and against each other,” Torres said.The rodeo kicks off each night at 6 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and kids under 12 years old. The catch-a-calf competition, for children 12 and under, has a $10 registration fee and participants can sign up at the KMTS studio in Glenwood or at the event.Children 7 and under can register for the mutton-busting event and must preregister at the KMTS studio. Preliminary rounds begin at 4 p.m. on Friday and 3:30 p.m. on Saturday with finals taking place at 6 p.m. each night. Buckles and prizes will be awarded to winners.Catch-a-calf and mutton busting are just two of many events targeted towards families.”We’ve always made it a family event. We have a mascot who is oriented toward the kids, different kids events, and it (the proceeds) partially benefits the Garfield County 4-H Club,” Torres said. “So we really like to focus it on kids.”The event will also benefit the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys. For those looking to compete in a non-rodeo event, the 27th annual Strawberry Shortcut will be hitting the streets on Sunday, where participants can choose to compete in the 10K, 5K or Family Fun one-mile run.The 10K and 5K will both begin at Centennial Park, starting at 7:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., respectively. Each race costs $20, or participants can run both for $25. The Family Fun Run fee is $18, or free with any other paid entry. Families can enter together for a $50 fee. All registration fees include a T-shirt but increase $5 after Thursday.Runners can register at http://www.strawberryshortcutrace.com or at the Bank of Colorado (at 901 Grand Ave. in Glenwood or 655 East Valley Road in Basalt).The race drew more than 900 participants last year and will benefit the Special Olympics Colorado this year.


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